The vast majority of children with autism also have at least one mental illness, new research shows.
Nearly 78% of the children on the spectrum are diagnosed with a mental illness, and nearly half have two or more. Even among preschoolers with autism, 44.8% suffer from such conditions.
In contrast, only 14.1% of young people without autism suffer from mental illness.
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This is the result of a study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Findings are based on interviews with 42,283 carers for children ages 3-17 across the country conducted as part of the 2016 National Child Health Survey.
The researchers compared the prevalence of mental illness in people with autism, intellectual disabilities, and other chronic conditions. Children with autism were far more likely than any other group to have mental health problems.
“There is something specific about autism that increases this psychological distress, and this applies not only to anxiety, but also to depression, behavior problems, and attention problems,” said Connor Kerns, assistant professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia and the lead author of the study. “This is a special population that needs special attention.”
Among the autistic parents, parents reported that 60% had a behavioral or behavioral problem, nearly half had attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, nearly 40% had anxiety, and over 15% had depression.
“If we think about how we can check up on these mental illnesses and intervene before these kids even go to school, we may be way ahead of the game,” Kerns said. “The longer mental illnesses persist and get worse, the more difficult it becomes to treat them. Much better to catch them early. We don’t have a great system for that right now. “
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