Orm Stian, Wood Jeffrey J, Fossum Ingrid Nesdal, Adams Keenan, Andersen Per Normann, Fjermestad Krister, Øie Merete Glenne, Skogli Erik Winther
Division Mental Health Care, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway.
Department of Psychology, University of Inland Norway, Vormstuguvegen 2, Lillehammer, 2624, Norway.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2025 Mar;53(3):429-441. doi: 10.1007/s10802-025-01292-3. Epub 2025 Jan 24.
Neurodivergent youth often experience anxiety and depressive symptoms that may hamper adaptive functioning and well-being. There is little knowledge of how anxiety and depression are related in neurodivergent youth. Therefore, we aimed to examine whether the relationship between anxiety and depressive symptoms is uni- or bidirectional in neurodiverse youth. We assessed self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms over time in 173 youth (M = 11.7 years, SD = 2.1, 64% males, 36% females). The sample comprised 38 autistic youth, 85 youth diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 50 comparison youth assessed at baseline (T1), 2-year follow-up (T2, 97% retention), and 10-year follow-up (T3, 73% retention). We used cross-lagged models to analyze the data. In neurodivergent youth, more anxiety symptoms at T1 and T2 predicted more depressive symptoms at T2 and T3. Preceding anxiety symptoms were linked with later depressive symptoms, even after accounting for autoregressive effects of depressive symptoms. The results are consistent with a prodromal model in which anxiety symptoms can independently foreshadow the emergence of depressive symptoms over the course of development among neurodivergent youth. Potentially, addressing anxiety symptoms among youth with autism or ADHD could play a role in preventing the onset of youth depression.
神经发育障碍的青少年经常经历焦虑和抑郁症状，这可能会妨碍其适应性功能和幸福感。目前对于神经发育障碍青少年中焦虑与抑郁之间的关系了解甚少。因此，我们旨在研究在神经发育多样的青少年中，焦虑症状与抑郁症状之间的关系是单向的还是双向的。我们对173名青少年（平均年龄M = 11.7岁，标准差SD = 2.1，男性占64%，女性占36%）在一段时间内的自我报告焦虑和抑郁症状进行了评估。样本包括38名自闭症青少年、85名被诊断为注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的青少年以及50名对照青少年，在基线期（T1）、2年随访期（T2，保留率97%）和10年随访期（T3，保留率73%）进行了评估。我们使用交叉滞后模型来分析数据。在神经发育障碍的青少年中，T1和T2时更多的焦虑症状预示着T2和T3时更多的抑郁症状。即使在考虑了抑郁症状的自回归效应之后，先前的焦虑症状仍与后来的抑郁症状相关。这些结果与前驱模型一致，即在神经发育障碍青少年的发育过程中，焦虑症状可独立预示抑郁症状的出现。潜在地，解决自闭症或ADHD青少年的焦虑症状可能对预防青少年抑郁症的发作起到作用。
