title: Boys with Asperger Syndrome Grow Up: Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Disorders 20 Years After Initial Diagnosis.
abstract: We examined comorbid psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders in fifty adult males (mean age 30 years) with Asperger syndrome (AS) diagnosed in childhood and followed up prospectively for almost two decades (13-26 years). Only three of the 50 men had never met criteria for an additional psychiatric/neurodevelopmental diagnosis and more than half had ongoing comorbidity (most commonly either ADHD or depression or both). Any psychiatric comorbidity increased the risk of poorer outcome. The minority of the AS group who no longer met criteria for a full diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder were usually free of current psychiatric comorbidity. The high rate of psychiatric/neurodevelopmental comorbidities underscores the need for a full psychiatric/neurodevelopmental assessment at follow-up of males with AS.
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Kungsgatan 12, 411 19, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: I Carina
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Gillberg
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Kungsgatan 12, 411 19, Gothenburg, Sweden. adam.helles@gnc.gu.se.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Helles
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Kungsgatan 12, 411 19, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Billstedt
authors.affiliation: Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Kungsgatan 12, 411 19, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D065886:Neurodevelopmental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: ADHD; Asperger syndrome; Autism spectrum disorder; DCD; Depression; Long-term follow-up; Neurodevelopmental; Psychiatric disorder; Schizophrenia