title: Investigating autism spectrum disorder and autistic traits in early onset eating disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether young people (8-16 years) with an eating disorder have a higher prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASDs) and elevated autistic traits compared to typically developing (TD) peers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two participants with early onset eating disorder (EOED) were assessed using standardized ASD measures and compared to IQ matched TD (n = 24) and ASD (n = 20) controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An ASD diagnosis was no more common in EOED than in TD controls. However, repetitive and stereotyped behavior was more often observed in the EOED group and, compared to TD controls, there was a trend (p = .07) toward greater autistic social impairment in EOED.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whilst participants with EOED did not show increased ASD prevalence, they did have elevated autistic traits of clinical significance, particularly repetitive and stereotyped behavior. Further work is required to determine whether inflexibility and social difficulties in EOED have identical phenomenology and etiology to those seen in ASD.
authors.affiliation: The Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK. jyoti.pooni@nhs.net
authors.forename: Jyoti
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pooni
authors.forename: Aafke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ninteman
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bryant-Waugh
authors.forename: Dasha
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nicholls
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mandy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior