Social anxiety disorder, ASD share strong association

There is a strong association between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults, according to a new study by researchers in Italy.

Barbara Carpita and colleagues say, “Due to their similar behavioral presentation, it can sometimes be challenging to distinguish between SAD and the social avoidance that is frequently described in ASD. Moreover, a growing body of evidence is reporting that a significant proportion of subjects with ASD also meet the requirements for SAD and, vice versa, subjects with SAD tend to exhibit a higher prevalence of autistic traits.”

To explore possible links between SAD and ASD, the researchers analyzed data from assessments completed by 56 adults with a clinical diagnosis of SAD and 56 controls matched for age and gender. The assessments included the Social Anxiety Spectrum-Short Version (SHY-SV) and the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum).

The researchers report that participants with SAD had significantly higher scores in all domains of both assessments as well as higher total scores compared to the controls. In addition, they say, SHY-SV total and domain scores correlated strongly and positively with all AdAS Spectrum domains and total score. They add, “AdAS Spectrum total score and Childhood/Adolescence, Non-Verbal Communication, Empathy and Restricted interests and Rumination domain scores were significant predictors of higher SHY-SV score.”

The researchers say their results confirm the link between SAD and autistic traits in adults, “describing not only high levels of autistic traits in SAD adults, but also significant correlations between many core features of the two disorders and a predictive role of autistic traits on higher SAD symptoms.”

Citations

“Presence and correlates of autistic traits among patients with social anxiety disorder,” Barbara Carpita, Benedetta Nardi, Chiara Bonelli, Enrico Massimetti, Giulia Amatori, Ivan Mirko Cremone, Stefano Pini, and Liliana Dell’Osso, Frontiers in Psychiatry, Volume 14, December 2023 (online). Address: Barbara Carpita, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, Pisa 56127, Italy, [email protected].