title: Medical and Behavioral Correlates of Depression History in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: Depression is commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the life span. We sought to identify medical and behavioral problems associated with a history of a parent-reported diagnosis of depression in a large sample of school-aged children and adolescents with ASD.
  
  
  
  A sample of 1272 participants (aged 6-17 years; mean [SD]: 9.56 [2.79] years) from the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network consortium were divided into "ever-depressed" (n = 89) and "nondepressed" (n = 1183) groups on the basis of caregiver endorsement of children's current or previous diagnoses of depression.
  
  
  
  In total, 7.0% of children with ASD (4.8% of those aged 6-12 years and 20.2% of those aged 13-17 years) were reported to have a history of a depression diagnosis. Positive depression history was associated with greater chronological age, higher IQ, and Asperger disorder diagnosis. After controlling for age, IQ, and within-spectrum categorical diagnosis, the ever-depressed group exhibited significantly greater rates of seizure disorders (odds ratio = 2.64) and gastrointestinal problems (odds ratio = 2.59) and trend-level differences in aggression, somatic complaints, and social impairments. The groups did not differ in autism severity, repetitive behaviors, sleep problems, eating problems, self-injurious behavior, or current intervention use.
  
  
  
  Co-occurring depression is a particularly common problem in higher-functioning older children within the Autism Treatment Network. Our findings indicate that children with ASD and a history of a depression diagnosis are more likely to also have co-occurring medical problems, although the presence and direction of causality is unclear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia;
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Greenlee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee;
authors.forename: Angela S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Mosley
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital Biostatistics Center, Boston, Massachusetts; and.
authors.forename: Amy M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Shui
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veenstra-VanderWeele
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee; katherine.gotham@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Katherine O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Gotham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs