The Watson Institute

1. The Watson Institute Self-report of Co-morbid Depression in Autism Spectrum Disorders Lindsy Yarger, M.A., Julie Knapp, Ph.D., and Joseph McAllister, Jr. Ph.D. PARTICIPANTS / METHODS RESULTS INTRODUCTION Group Differences on CDI Mean scores • Subject Group (ASD) • Children between the ages of 6 and 17 who • had been diagnosed with an Autism • Spectrum Disorder and Depression. N=13 • Control Group (NASD) • Children between the ages of 6 and 17 that • have not been diagnosed with an Autism • Spectrum Disorder but have been • diagnosed with Depression. N=8 • Assessment Measures • Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) • Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Adolescents with autism spectrum disorders are at greater risk for developing depression when compared to children without an autism spectrum disorder (Barnhill, 2001; Ghaziuddin et al., 1998; Tantam, 1991). Research indicates as many as 38% of children with autism spectrum disorders also suffer from depression (Stewart et al., 2006; Lainhart, 1999). As children with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty identifying and expressing their emotions, they may not be able to accurately label and interpret their feelings on standardized measures. Therefore, clinicians should be guarded when using psychological instruments that require the child to self-identify their depressive symptomatology as a means of diagnosing co-morbid depression. Instead they should consider alternative sources for diagnosing depression. HYPOTHESES • Children in the ASD group will have a • lower Total CDI score than the control group • Parents in the ASD group will report more • symptoms of depression than their children • Group Differences on CBCL Mean Scores CONCLUSIONS/FUTURE RESEARCH PURPOSE • Results did not indicate statistically significant differences between the Total CDI score for the ASD group and the NASD group. However, results did indicate that children in the NASD group consistently received higher T-Scores across scales on the CDI, indicating that they are more likely to report their depressive symptoms then children with ASD. Results also indicate that parents of ASD children consistently reported more symptoms of depression on the CBCL than the NASD parents. These results may indicate that children with ASD have a more difficult time identifying their emotions on self-report measures. Future research should include a larger sample size and the use of the Parent CDI to measure depression rather than the CBCL. The purpose of the research is to study the ability of children with autism to recognize their own internal state of depression. This study attempted to determine differences in self-report depressive symptoms in Autism Spectrum and Non-Autism Spectrum groups who were independently diagnosed with depression. • Increase the sample size • Use the parent version of the CDI