Wijnhoven Lieke A M W, Creemers Daan H M, Vermulst Ad A, Granic Isabela
Mental Health Care Institute GGZ Oost-Brabant, Boekel, Netherlands.
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Front Psychiatry. 2018 Mar 2;9:50. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00050. eCollection 2018.
Anxiety is highly prevalent in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is inconsistency in studies investigating the prevalence and risk factors of anxiety in children with ASD. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to give an overview of the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in a clinical Dutch sample of children with ASD. The second aim was to investigate age, gender, ASD subtype, and IQ as potential risk factors for anxiety in this sample. In total, 172 children with ASD (age, 8-15 years) and their parents participated in this study. Specialized services in which children with ASD were recruited were two mental health institutes and one secondary special education school. The findings showed that more than 60% of the participating children with ASD had at least subclinical anxiety symptoms according to children. More than 80% of the children with ASD had at least subclinical anxiety symptoms according to parents. It was found that younger children and girls with ASD had more anxiety symptoms than older children and boys with ASD. Moreover, it was found that children with a higher performance (non-verbal) IQ and lower verbal IQ had more specific phobia symptoms. The findings suggest that in a clinical context, children with ASD have a high risk to have co-occurring anxiety symptoms, especially girls and younger children with ASD. Therefore, early prevention and treatment of anxiety in children with ASD who are most at risk is important.
焦虑症在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童中极为普遍。然而，在调查ASD儿童焦虑症患病率和风险因素的研究中存在不一致之处。因此，本研究的首要目的是概述荷兰临床样本中ASD儿童焦虑症状的患病率。第二个目的是调查年龄、性别、ASD亚型和智商作为该样本中焦虑症的潜在风险因素。共有172名ASD儿童（年龄8至15岁）及其父母参与了本研究。招募ASD儿童的专业服务机构有两家心理健康机构和一所中等特殊教育学校。研究结果显示，根据儿童自身报告，超过60%的参与研究的ASD儿童至少有亚临床焦虑症状。根据家长报告，超过80%的ASD儿童至少有亚临床焦虑症状。研究发现，ASD女童和年龄较小的儿童比ASD男童和年龄较大的儿童有更多的焦虑症状。此外，研究发现，非语言智商较高而语言智商较低的儿童有更多的特定恐惧症症状。研究结果表明，在临床环境中，ASD儿童有出现共病焦虑症状的高风险，尤其是ASD女童和年龄较小的儿童。因此，对风险最高的ASD儿童进行焦虑症的早期预防和治疗很重要。
