Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents itself as differences in communication, social interaction, and behavior. Research has shown that these traits often appear in children with psychiatric conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder. However, fewer studies have evaluated whether adults affected by psychiatric disorders also exhibit autistic-like traits.

What’s New: On April 2, 2015, the online journal PLOS ONE published a study exploring the prevalence of autistic-like traits in adults with psychiatric disorders. The researchers applied a series of established psychological and behavioral screenings to a total of 290 individuals between the ages of 25 and 59—125 with clinical depression, 56 with bipolar disorder, 44 with schizophrenia, and 65 with no psychiatric diagnosis. They found that a significant portion of the individuals with psychiatric disorders—with the exception of depression in remission—exhibited autistic-like traits like restrictive, repetitive behaviors. The prevalence of these ranged from 46 percent in those with ongoing depression to 61 percent in those with schizophrenia—as compared to the 14 percent of individuals with no psychiatric diagnosis who demonstrated autistic-like traits.

Why it’s important: This is the first major study to examine the link between adult psychiatric conditions and the traits observed in ASD. Because those traits were so strongly associated with adult bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the findings could inform screening and treatment for those patient populations.

Autism Profile

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