Autistic and schizotypal traits and global functioning in bipolar I disorder

Abstract

Objective: To determine the expression of autistic and positive schizotypal traits in a large sample of adults with bipolar I disorder (BD-I), and the effect of co-occurring autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning in BD-I. Method: Autistic and positive schizotypal traits were self-assessed in 797 individuals with BD-I recruited by the Bipolar Disorder Research Network. Differences in global functioning (rated using the Global Assessment Scale) during lifetime worst depressive and manic episodes (GASD and GASM respectively) were calculated in groups with high/low autistic and positive schizotypal traits.Regression analyses assessed the interactive effect of autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning. Results: 47.2% (CI=43.7-50.7%) showed clinically significant levels of autistic traits, and 23.22% (95% CI=20.29-26.14) showed clinically significant levels of positive schizotypal traits. In the worst episode of mania, the high autistic, high positive schizotypal group had better global functioning compared to the other groups. Individual differences analyses showed that high levels of co-occurring traits were associated with better global functioning in both mood states. Limitations: Autistic and schizotypal traits were assessed using self-rated questionnaires. Conclusions: Expression of autistic and schizotypal traits in adults with BD-I is prevalent, and may be important to predict illness aetiology, prognosis, and diagnostic practices in this population. Future work should focus on replicating these findings in independent samples, and on the biological and/or psychosocial mechanisms underlying better global functioning in those who have high levels of both autistic and positive schizotypal traits.

The interactive effect of autism and psychosis severity on theory of mind and functioning in schizophrenia.

“…These findings corroborate the results of previous studies. Our findings regarding functioning are consistent with earlier studies where concurrent high levels of autistic and positive schizotypal traits were associated with better global functioning during the worst depressive episode in individuals with bipolar I disorder (Abu-Akel et al, 2017b), and with better social functioning in healthy individuals (Shi et al, 2017).…”

Diametric effects of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness on attention control irrespective of task demands

“…Indeed, it has been pointed out that contrasting pharmacological agents, such as antagonists and agonists of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlur5) pathways, are being developed for the treatment of ASD and SSD, respectively 22 . An immediate step of practical significance, however, would be to routinely assess both conditions in both populations, particularly when such trait combination (or the relative symptom expression of one condition vis-à-vis the other) appears to determine clinical functional outcomes 52 .…”

Comparison of Schizotypal Characteristics of Bipolar Patients and Their Healthy Siblings

“…Hastaların kardeşleriyle gösterdiği bu korelasyon ve kalıntı belirtileri olan BPB tanılı hastaların kardeşlerinde referans fikir skorlarının yüksek olması BPB'un ailesel özelliklerini destekleyen bir bulgu olmuştur. Kardeşlerin şizotipi açısından hasta ve sağlıklı kontroller arasında yer alması sonucunu şizotipinin, BPB'un bir endofenotip özelliği olduğu şeklinde düşünen yazarlar bulunmaktadır (8,12,15) . Ça-lışmamızın sonuçları da bu düşünceyi desteklemiştir.…”