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Comparisons between autism spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders: Findings from a clinic sample in S ingapore
Author(s) -
Ooi Yoon Phaik,
Rescorla Leslie,
Sung Min,
Fung Daniel S.S.,
Woo Bernardine,
Ang Rebecca P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asia‐pacific psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1758-5872
pISSN - 1758-5864
DOI - 10.1111/j.1758-5872.2012.00228.x
Subject(s) - cbcl , autism spectrum disorder , child behavior checklist , anxiety , autism , psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , childhood autism rating scale , generalized anxiety disorder
The goals of the present study were to: (i) examine similarities and differences in behavioral/emotional problems manifested by children with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) and those with anxiety disorder ( ANX ); (ii) test the ability of each of the eight child behavioral checklist ( CBCL ) and teacher report form ( TRF ) syndrome scales to differentiate the ASD group from the ANX group; and (iii) test the ability of an ASD scale derived by O oi et al . to differentiate the ASD group from the ANX group. Methods Archival CBCL and TRF data from 180 children between 4 and 18 years of age (119 males, 61 females) diagnosed with ASD ( n = 86) or ANX ( n = 94) at an outpatient child psychiatric clinic in S ingapore were analyzed. Results The ASD group scored significantly higher on S ocial P roblems and A ttention P roblems but significantly lower on A nxious/ D epressed and S omatic C omplaints than the ANX group. The groups did not show significant differences on W ithdrawn/ D epressed and T hought P roblems. Both the CBCL and TRF ASD scales were significant predictors of the ASD group, with moderate to high sensitivity and specificity. Discussion Our findings for an A sian sample support the diagnostic overlap between ASD and ANX reported for Western samples and underscore the importance of treating ASD as both a unitary disease and as a web of overlapping configurations of underlying problem dimensions.