Anxiety in young people with autism spectrum disorder: Common and autism-related anxiety experiences and their associations with individual characteristics

Abstract

Anxiety is common in autism spectrum disorder. Many anxiety symptoms in autism spectrum disorder are consistent with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) anxiety disorders (termed “common” anxieties), but others may be qualitatively different, likely relating to autism spectrum disorder traits (herein termed “autism-related” anxieties). To date, few studies have examined both “common” and “autism-related” anxiety experiences in autism spectrum disorder. We explored caregiver-reported Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parent version data from a multi-site (United Kingdom, Singapore, and United States) pooled database of 870 6- to 18-year-old participants with autism spectrum disorder, of whom 287 provided at least one written response to the optional open-ended Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parent item 39 (“ Is there anything else your child is afraid of?”). Responses were thematically coded to explore (a) common and autism-related anxiety presentations and (b) their relationship with young people’s characteristics. Nearly half of the responses were autism-related anxieties (mostly sensory, uncommon, or idiosyncratic specific phobias and worries about change and unpredictability). The other half described additional common anxieties not covered in the original measure (mostly social, weather and environmental disasters, and animals). Caregivers of participants who were more severely affected by autism spectrum disorder symptoms reported more autism-related, as compared to common, additional anxieties. Implications for the assessment and understanding of anxiety in autism are discussed.

Technology-Based Assessments and Treatments of Anxiety in Autistic Individuals: Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis

“…These results are congruent with the wider ASD literature (e.g. Bearss et al, 2016;Lau et al, 2020;Ozsivadjian et al, 2012;Robertson et al, 2018). Conversely, review findings are incongruent with this literature base in that anxiety was not commonly shown to be triggered by social situations.…”

“…While there were only five assessment studies, collectively they indicate the nature of anxiety to be distinct in ASD, as demonstrated by non-technology-based research (e.g. Lau et al, 2020;Magiati et al, 2017). Three of the assessment studies used EMA to assess everyday state anxiety (i.e.…”

Is autonomic function during resting-state atypical in Autism: A systematic review of evidence

“…Methodologically, it is also important to note here that pure resting-state studies more often reported that participants were given some time to adapt to the laboratory context before autonomic measurement began. This might have influenced the findings as autistic participants are known to struggle with new environments (Lau et al, 2019). Similarly, studies that reportedly focused on solely resting-state measurement, as compared to those in which the resting-state measurement was followed by a task (cognitive or physical), were more likely to report group differences.…”

Improving Classroom Communication: The Effects of Virtual Social Training on Communication and Assertion Skills in Middle School Students

“…Research directions for group-based social interactions within a virtual environment also remain largely unexplored. Evidence suggests that individuals with social challenges most frequently avoid loud, crowded spaces and may benefit from a modifiable, virtual environment to improve social skills (Lau et al, 2020). To further enhance sensory immersion, it may be beneficial from an engagement standpoint to incorporate non-player characters and auditory features such as environmental ambient sound into the virtual world, thereby simulating real-life experiences of small and large group gatherings.…”