Gerber Alan H, Naples Adam, Chawarska Katarzyna, Dawson Geraldine, Kleinhans Natalia, Jeste Shafali, Faja Susan, Dziura James, Webb Sara, Sugar Catherine, Shic Frederick, Levin April R, McPartland James C
Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Center for Autism, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
Psychol Med. 2025 Apr 2;55:e104. doi: 10.1017/S0033291725000650.
Social anhedonia, indicating reduced pleasure from social interaction, is heightened in autistic youth and associated with increased internalizing symptoms transdiagnostically. The stability of social anhedonia over time and its longitudinal impact on internalizing symptoms in autism have never been examined.
Participants were 276 autistic children ( = 8.60, SD = 1.65; 211 male) with IQ ≥ 60 ( = 96.74, SD = 18.19). Autism severity was measured using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition. Caregivers completed the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory, Fifth Edition (CASI-5) at baseline, 6 weeks, and 6 months. The CASI-5 includes a social anhedonia subscale derived from relevant items across domains. ICC (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient) analysis assessed stability, while cross-lagged panel models examined associations among social anhedonia, depression, and social anxiety across time.
At baseline, social anhedonia correlated with autism severity, as well as parent-reported social anxiety and depression. Social anhedonia showed relative stability (ICC = 0.763) over 6 months, with a significant decline between baseline and 6 weeks ( = -0.52, < .001). Cross-lagged models revealed a bidirectional relationship between social anhedonia and depression over time, while social anxiety displayed concurrent, but not predictive, associations across time.
Social anhedonia demonstrated stability over 6 months, suggesting that it may be a relatively stable characteristic in autistic children. Concurrent relationships were observed between social anhedonia and depression, as well as social anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Only depression demonstrated a bidirectional longitudinal association with social anhedonia. This bidirectional relationship aligns with developmental models linking early negative social experiences to subsequent internalizing symptoms in autistic children, underscoring the clinical significance of social anhedonia assessment in this population.
社交快感缺乏表明社交互动带来的愉悦感降低，在自闭症青少年中更为明显，并且与跨诊断的内化症状增加有关。社交快感缺乏随时间的稳定性及其对自闭症内化症状的纵向影响从未被研究过。
参与者为276名自闭症儿童（平均年龄 = 8.60岁，标准差 = 1.65岁；211名男性），智商≥60（平均智商 = 96.74，标准差 = 18.19）。使用《自闭症诊断观察量表第二版》测量自闭症严重程度。照顾者在基线、6周和6个月时完成《儿童与青少年症状量表第五版》（CASI - 5）。CASI - 5包括一个从各领域相关项目衍生而来的社交快感缺乏分量表。组内相关系数（ICC）分析评估稳定性，而交叉滞后面板模型研究社交快感缺乏、抑郁和社交焦虑随时间的关联。
在基线时，社交快感缺乏与自闭症严重程度以及家长报告的社交焦虑和抑郁相关。社交快感缺乏在6个月内显示出相对稳定性（ICC = 0.763），在基线和6周之间有显著下降（t = -0.52，p <.001）。交叉滞后模型显示，社交快感缺乏和抑郁随时间存在双向关系，而社交焦虑在各时间点显示出同时存在但无预测性的关联。
社交快感缺乏在6个月内表现出稳定性，表明它可能是自闭症儿童相对稳定的特征。观察到社交快感缺乏与抑郁之间以及社交焦虑与注意力缺陷多动障碍之间存在同时存在的关系。只有抑郁与社交快感缺乏表现出双向纵向关联。这种双向关系与将早期负面社交经历与自闭症儿童随后的内化症状联系起来的发展模型一致，强调了在该人群中评估社交快感缺乏的临床意义。
