ADHD and autism symptoms in youth: a network analysis
- 13 May 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Vol. 63 (2), 143-151
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13436
Abstract
Background Previous research investigating the overlap between attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (henceforth, autism) symptoms in population samples have relied on latent variable modeling in which averaged scores representing dimensions were derived from observed symptoms. There are no studies evaluating how ADHD and autism symptoms interact at the level of individual symptom items. Methods We aimed to address this gap by performing a network analysis on data from a school survey of children aged 6–17 years old (N = 7,405). ADHD and autism symptoms were measured via parent‐report on the Swanson, Nolan, Pelham‐IV questionnaire and the Childhood Autism Spectrum test, respectively. Results A relatively low interconnectivity between ADHD and autism symptoms was found with only 10.06% of possible connections (edges) between one ADHD and one autism symptoms different than zero. Associations between ADHD and autism symptoms were significantly weaker than those between two symptoms pertaining to the same construct. Select ADHD symptoms, particularly those presenting in social contexts (e.g. ‘talks excessively’, ‘does not wait turn’), showed moderate‐to‐strong associations with autism symptoms, but some were considered redundant to autism symptoms. Conclusions The present findings indicate that individual ADHD and autism symptoms are largely segregated in accordance with diagnostic boundaries corresponding to these conditions in children and adolescents from the community. These findings could improve our clinical conceptualization of ADHD and autism and guide advancements in diagnosis and treatment.Funding Information
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (2016/22455‐8)
This publication has 41 references indexed in Scilit:
- Network Analysis: An Integrative Approach to the Structure of PsychopathologyAnnual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2013
- Annual Research Review: Categories versus dimensions in the classification and conceptualisation of child and adolescent mental disorders – implications of recent empirical studyJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2012
- Autism in Brazil - perspectives from science and societyRevista da Associação Médica Brasileira, 2011
- Comorbidity: A network perspectiveBehavioral and Brain Sciences, 2010
- Literatura científica brasileira sobre transtornos do espectro autistaRevista da Associação Médica Brasileira, 2010
- Evidence for overlapping genetic influences on autistic and ADHD behaviours in a community twin sampleJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2008
- Parent and Teacher SNAP-IV Ratings of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder SymptomsAssessment, 2008
- Testing the 8-Syndrome Structure of the Child Behavior Checklist in 30 SocietiesJournal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 2007
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a Diverse Culture: Do Research and Clinical Findings Support the Notion of a Cultural Construct for the Disorder?Biological Psychiatry, 2005
- The CAST (Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test)Autism, 2002