Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2022 Feb;37(2). doi: 10.1002/gps.5669.
Research with younger adults has begun to explore associations between autism/autistic traits and vulnerability to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Large scale studies and/or examination of age-effects have not been conducted.
Adults aged 50 years+ from the PROTECT study (n = 20,220) completed items about current and childhood socio-communicative difficulties characteristic of autism. Approximately 1% (n = 251) endorsed high autistic traits, henceforth the Autism Spectrum Traits (AST) group. Differences between the AST and an age-and sex-matched "Comparison Older Adults" (COA; n = 9179) group were explored for lifetime traumatic experiences and current symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
Almost 30% of the AST group, compared to less than 8% of the COA, reported severe trauma in childhood/adulthood, including emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Elevated current PTSD symptoms were reported by AST compared to COA. An interaction was observed between autistic traits and trauma severity; the effect of level of trauma on PTSD symptoms was significantly greater for AST versus COA participants. This interaction remained significant when controlling for current depression and anxiety symptoms.
The findings suggest that high autistic traits may increase the likelihood of experiencing trauma across the lifespan, and the impact of severe trauma on PTSD symptoms. Older adults with high (vs. low) autistic traits may be at greater risk of experiencing PTSD symptoms in latter life. Future research should test whether the pattern of results is similar for diagnosed autistic adults.
针对自闭症/自闭症特征与创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）易感性之间的关联，已有一些针对年轻成年人的研究对此展开了探索。但目前尚未开展大规模研究或对年龄效应进行检验。
来自 PROTECT 研究的 50 岁及以上成年人（n=20220）完成了与当前和儿童时期自闭症相关的社会沟通困难的项目。约有 1%（n=251）的成年人表现出较高的自闭症特征，即自闭症谱系特质（AST）组。研究比较了 AST 组与年龄和性别相匹配的“普通老年人”（COA；n=9179）组的终生创伤经历和当前 PTSD、抑郁和焦虑症状。
AST 组中约 30%的人，与 COA 组中不到 8%的人相比，报告在儿童/成年期经历过严重的创伤，包括情感、身体或性虐待。与 COA 相比，AST 报告了更高的当前 PTSD 症状。研究观察到自闭症特征与创伤严重程度之间存在交互作用；与 COA 参与者相比，AST 参与者创伤水平对 PTSD 症状的影响更大。当控制当前抑郁和焦虑症状时，这种交互作用仍然显著。
这些发现表明，高自闭症特征可能会增加一生中经历创伤的可能性，以及严重创伤对 PTSD 症状的影响。与低自闭症特征相比，高自闭症特征（AST）的老年人在晚年可能更易出现 PTSD 症状。未来的研究应检验在确诊自闭症成年人中是否存在类似的结果模式。
