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: 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Data from the National Survey of Children's Health 2016-2019 was used to examine the co-occurrence of autism and ADHD and the impact on anxiety and depression among adolescents age 12-17. Rates of anxiety and depression were up to ten-fold the prevalence of adolescents not diagnosed with autism or ADHD. Over half of autistic females (57%) and…

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…

Purpose: Using data from a randomized clinical trial evaluating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for children with autism and co-occurring anxiety, this study examined the relationship between autism features and anxiety symptoms throughout CBT. Methods: Two multilevel mediation analyses were run which examined the mediating role of changes in…

This study differentially examined the relation between two clinical constructs: "social anxiety" and "social competence" in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Employing two questionnaires (SASKO; IU), individuals with ASD (n = 23) showed increased scores of SOCIAL ANXIETY (SASKO) and of INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY (IU), compared…

This article reports on a pilot study of a parent-only cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and anxiety difficulties. Twenty-one parents of anxious children with ASD (5-11 of age) completed the From Timid to Tiger intervention. Parent outcome measures were assessed at…

Previous studies have suggested that girls with Turner syndrome (TS) exhibit symptoms of social anxiety during interactions with others. However, few studies have quantified these behaviors during naturalistic face-to-face social encounters. In this study, we coded observational markers of social anxiety in prepubertal girls with TS and…

We explored the role of negative performance beliefs and self-focused attention considered central to psychological models of social anxiety but not studied in autism. Firstly, we compared self- and observer ratings of performance on a social task for 71 young autistic people, 41 high and 30 low in social anxiety, finding a significant main effect…

Co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses are very common in individuals with ASD. Little is known about the effect that co-occurring psychiatric conditions may have on treatment response to CBT for children with ASD and anxiety. The present study examined the relationship between co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses and response to CBT for anxiety in…

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) programs adapted to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) effectively reduce anxiety when run in university clinics. Forty-nine children aged 8-14 years participated in a waitlist controlled study in a general child psychiatric hospital setting. Post-treatment 30% of the children were free of their…