Purpose: Increased local-to-global interference has been found in those with ASD, AD and OCD, and as such, may represent a transdiagnostic marker. As a first step to investigating this, we aimed to assess the overlap in traits of these disorders in a non-clinical sample, and whether local-global processing relates to the traits of the three…

The Child Sleep Hygiene Questionnaire (CSHQ) and its adapted version for autistic children, known as CSHQ-Autism, have gained recognition as essential tools for studying pediatric sleep patterns. 67 autistic children were evaluated using these questionnaires. 52 children screened positive on the CSHQ while 18 were screened positive on the…

Anxiety is commonly experienced by children on the autism spectrum, and can negatively impact their lives. Family accommodation has been linked to the impact of anxiety on the child's life in non-autistic children. This study tested whether the same relationship holds for children on the autism spectrum. A community sample (n = 118) of parents of…

The Anxiety Scale for Autism--Adults (ASA-A) captures the autistic anxiety experience, but we do not know whether it is structurally equivalent for men and women, or non-autistic people. Measurement invariance analysis considered gender and diagnostic status (342 cis-gender autistic men (N = 105) and women (N = 237), 316 cis-gender non-autistic…

Anxiety is commonly experienced by autistic people and impacts on quality of life and social participation. New anxiety interventions are required to effectively meet the needs of autistic people. Personalised Anxiety Treatment-Autism (PAT-A©) is a bespoke, modular approach to treating anxiety in up to 12 sessions. This study explored the…

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a multidimensional construct involving maladaptive responses to uncertainty. IU is strongly associated with autism and anxiety, yet no studies have examined its symptom profile in autistic children. This study compares IU symptom profiles in autistic and NT children and in autistic children with and without…

Both anxiety and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with atypical physiological activity. Few studies have systematically assessed the resting physiological activity in ASD with co-occurring anxiety disorders. We tested 75 participants divided in four groups: youth with ASD, with (ASD + Anxiety = 22, 6F, 12.29 ± 2.83 years old) and…

Autistic individuals are twice as likely to meet criteria for anxiety than neurotypical children; yet we lack understanding of early presentations of anxiety in young autistic children, especially those with cognitive impairment. This study is the first to utilize an autism-specific anxiety diagnostic interview with 28 preschool cognitively…

Purpose: Autistic children are reported to display higher levels of externalizing and internalizing behaviors than neurotypical children, and their parents report more stress than parents of neurotypical children. It is unclear whether child behavior difficulties contribute to increased parenting stress, whether parenting stress contributes to…

The stress literature suggests that coping strategies are implicated in mental health outcomes. However, the longitudinal relationship between coping strategies and mental health in the autistic adult population has not yet been examined. This 2-year longitudinal study examined the predictive role of both baseline and change in coping strategy use…

Purpose: Adolescents and adults with Down syndrome are noted to display symptoms and behaviors consistent with a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. While evidenced-based interventions, including psychopharmacology and therapeutic interventions including exposure and response prevention, exist and effectively treat obsessive-compulsive…

Prior research has demonstrated that cognitive inflexibility is associated with anxiety in autistic individuals. Everyday patterns of behavioral inflexibility (e.g. observable inflexible behavior in the context of the need to change or adapt and that is manifested in real-world everyday settings) is common in autism and can be distinguished from…

This trial examined stepped-care cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) among 96 autistic youth with co-occurring anxiety. Step 1 included an open trial of parent-led, therapist-guided bibliotherapy. Step 2 was family-based CBT for those who did not respond to Step 1 or maintenance for those who did. Eighteen participants (28%) who completed Step 1…

Purpose: Cognitive behaviour therapy based on the Clark and Wells (1995) model is a first-line treatment for neurotypical people seeking support for social anxiety. While autistic people frequently report high social anxiety, it is unclear how appropriate the model is for this population. Methods: Over 300 autistic and non-autistic adults…

Internalising symptoms are elevated in autism compared to the general population. Few studies have investigated emotional dysregulation (ED) as a potential mediator between specific transdiagnostic processes and anxiety and depression symptoms in autistic youth. In a sample of 94 autistic young people aged 5-18 years referred to a specialist…