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: An internal model deficit is considered to underlie developmental coordination disorder (DCD); thus, children with DCD have an altered sense of agency (SoA), which is associated with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the perception of action-outcome regularity is present in early development, is involved in the generation of SoA, and has…

Introduction: Depression impacts many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), carrying increased risk of functional impairment, hospitalization, and suicide. Prescribing medication to target depression in patients with ASD occurs despite limited available systematic data describing medication management of depression in this population.…

Caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report higher rates of depression and the related negative thought patterns that may precede a clinical diagnosis. These negative thought patterns are referred to as depressive cognitions. Depressive cognitions are exacerbated by child problem behaviors (CPB) but may be impacted by…

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…

The interactions between sleep problems, autism symptoms and emotional and behavioural difficulties were explored using network analysis in 240 autistic children (mean age: 8.8 years, range 5-13 years) with moderate to severe sleep problems. Findings revealed a highly connected and interpretable network, with three separate clusters identified of…

The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated depression, anxiety, and executive function (EF) difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). EF skills have been positively associated with mental health outcomes. Here, we probed the psychosocial impacts of pandemic responses in children with and without ASD by relating pre-pandemic EF…

Data from the National Survey of Children's Health 2016-2020 was used to examine the association between physical activity and anxiety and depression among autistic youth, non-autistic youth with ADHD, and non-autistic non-ADHD youth. There was a significant negative association between physical activity and anxiety among all groups. Reduction in…

Suicide has been identified as a leading cause of premature death in autistic populations. Elevated autistic traits have also been associated with higher rates of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicidal self-harm in the general population, but this has yet to be examined in older age. Using baseline cross-sectional data from the PROTECT study,…

Purpose: Internalizing conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and difficulties with developing and maintaining friendships are common among autistic children and adolescents. Participation in extracurricular activities may buffer against these challenges as they provide naturalistic opportunities to bring peers with shared interests and…

The current study examined factorial invariance of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) using a convenience sample of 434 adults surveyed though Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were sorted into two groups based on their score on the Autism-Spectrum…

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…

Purpose: Previous cross-sectional research suggests self-compassion may mediate associations between autistic traits and mental health in autistic and non-autistic adults. However, no research to date has examined these relationships longitudinally. In this study, we used a cross-lagged panel analysis to examine correlations over time between…

Purpose: Major depressive disorder (MDD) disproportionately affects those living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is associated with significant impairment and treatment recidivism. Methods: We studied the use of accelerated theta burst stimulation (ATBS) for the treatment of refractory MDD in ASD (3 treatments daily x 10 days). This…

Purpose: Social anhedonia is a transdiagnostic trait that reflects reduced pleasure from social interaction. It has historically been associated with autism, however, very few studies have directly examined behavioral symptoms of social anhedonia in autistic youth. We investigated rates of social anhedonia in autistic compared to non-autistic…