title: Autistic-like traits in adult patients with mood disorders and schizophrenia.
abstract: Autism spectrum disorder often co-occurs with other psychiatric disorders. Although a high prevalence of autistic-like traits/symptoms has been identified in the pediatric psychiatric population of normal intelligence, there are no reports from adult psychiatric population. This study examined whether there is a greater prevalence of autistic-like traits/symptoms in patients with adult-onset psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, and whether such an association is independent of symptom severity. The subjects were 290 adults of normal intelligence between 25 and 59 years of age (MDD, n=125; bipolar disorder, n=56; schizophrenia, n=44; healthy controls, n=65). Autistic-like traits/symptoms were measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale for Adults. Symptom severity was measured using the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and/or the Young Mania Rating Scale. Almost half of the clinical subjects, except those with remitted MDD, exhibited autistic-like traits/symptoms at levels typical for sub-threshold or threshold autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, the proportion of psychiatric patients that demonstrated high autistic-like traits/symptoms was significantly greater than that of healthy controls, and not different between that of remitted or unremitted subjects with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. On the other hand, remitted subjects with MDD did not differ from healthy controls with regard to the prevalence or degree of high autistic-like traits/symptoms. A substantial proportion of adults with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia showed high autistic-like traits/symptoms independent of symptom severity, suggesting a shared pathophysiology among autism spectrum disorder and these psychiatric disorders. Conversely, autistic-like traits among subjects with MDD were associated with the depressive symptom severity. These findings suggest the importance of evaluating autistic-like traits/symptoms underlying adult-onset psychiatric disorders for the best-suited treatment. Further studies with a prospective design and larger samples are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Chuo, Yamanashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamio
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Teraishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takei
authors.affiliation: National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Teruhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Chuo, Yamanashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Motohashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Chuo, Yamanashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kunugi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult
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