Autism study uncovers only familiar difficulty

Adults diagnosed with autism in childhood appear to be no more likely to develop psychological disorders than the general population. This is the conclusion of a study recently published in the journal Autism.

The British research team, which included Jane Hutton and Michael Rutter [1] of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, examined information on the lives of 135 adults with autism.

They found a wide range of difference in the quality of individual lives. At one end of the spectrum was a man who was married and working, who might loosely be described as living normally. At the other extreme was a woman with an eating disorder who had tried to commit suicide several times and who often behaved aggressively and recklessly.

The researchers didn’t find many clues as to why some were functioning well while others were faring so poorly. The two groups did not differ in IQ scores, living arrangements, or employment status.

Life transitions (the death of a loved one or a change in living arrangements, for example) seemed to precipitate downturns. But, as the researchers point out, such events can cause mental breakdowns in anyone. And, just as in a normally-functioning group of people, there were plenty in this autistic group who did not develop new psychological disorders when their lives became particularly stressful.

There was some evidence that autistic individuals might be more vulnerable to developing obsessive-compulsive disorders than were non-autistic individuals. Here, too, the reasons were unclear.

Finally, because autistic individuals often have difficulty communicating, particularly about emotions, Hutton and company recommend careful questioning of family members or other caregivers in diagnosing any psychological problems.

• Summary of “New-onset psychiatric disorders in individuals with autism” by Jane Hutton, Susan Goode, Margaret Murphy, Ann Le Couteur, and Michael Rutter in Autism 2008, Volume 12, Issue 4, pp. 373-390.