Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA.
Autism Res. 2022 Nov;15(11):2112-2125. doi: 10.1002/aur.2808. Epub 2022 Aug 27.
Adult autism studies are increasingly comprised of later-diagnosed adults, yet little is known about how these adults compare to those diagnosed earlier in life. The present study examines medical and psychiatric conditions endorsed by autistic adults and documents differences between those diagnosed with ASD in childhood versus adulthood, as well as across age groups and sex at birth. 4657 legally independent adults (ages 18-85, M = 33.4 years) with professional ASD diagnoses who completed a medical questionnaire were drawn from the Simons Powering Autism Research Knowledge (SPARK) study. Chi square analyses, t-tests, and logistic regressions were used to compare medical and psychiatric conditions between age groups, sex at birth and adults diagnosed in childhood (before age 21) versus adulthood (at or after 21 years). Overall number of conditions endorsed as being diagnosed by a professional was high, with an average of 1.69 (SD = 2.01) medical or developmental and 2.98 (SD = 2.29) psychiatric conditions reported across the sample. Females were more likely to endorse psychiatric conditions (OR = 1.68). Adult-diagnosed adults were more likely to endorse psychiatric conditions (OR = 2.71) and reported more lifetime psychiatric diagnoses (M = 3.15, SD = 2.23) than their childhood-diagnosed counterparts (M = 2.81, SD = 2.33). These findings underscore the need for research to better understand and treat co-occurring psychiatric conditions in autistic adults and report and consider the age of diagnosis in adult autism samples. Moreover, results suggest it is imperative that mental health professionals receive autism training to promote accurate differential diagnosis and equitable access to mental health care for autistic adults with co-occurring psychiatric conditions.
成人自闭症研究越来越多地包括后来被诊断出的成年人，但对于这些成年人与那些在生命早期被诊断出的成年人相比有何不同，知之甚少。本研究检查了自闭症成年人所认可的医疗和精神疾病，并记录了在儿童期和成年期被诊断出患有 ASD 的成年人之间、以及在不同年龄组和出生性别之间的差异。从 Simons Powering Autism Research Knowledge (SPARK) 研究中抽取了 4657 名具有专业 ASD 诊断的法律上独立的成年人（年龄 18-85 岁，M = 33.4 岁），他们完成了一份医学问卷。使用卡方分析、t 检验和逻辑回归来比较年龄组、出生性别和儿童期（21 岁前）与成年期（21 岁及以后）诊断的成年人之间的医疗和精神疾病状况。被专业人士诊断出患有某种疾病的成年人的数量很多，平均有 1.69（SD=2.01）种医学或发育障碍和 2.98（SD=2.29）种精神疾病在整个样本中被报告。女性更有可能认可精神疾病（OR=1.68）。成年期被诊断出的成年人更有可能认可精神疾病（OR=2.71），并报告了更多的终身精神疾病诊断（M=3.15，SD=2.23），而他们的儿童期被诊断出的同龄人（M=2.81，SD=2.33）则更少。这些发现强调了需要进行研究以更好地理解和治疗自闭症成年人共病的精神疾病，并在成年自闭症样本中报告和考虑诊断年龄。此外，结果表明，心理健康专业人员接受自闭症培训以促进自闭症成年人共病的准确鉴别诊断和公平获得精神保健服务至关重要。
