Social Anxiety in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders Contribute to Impairments in Social Communication and Social Motivation.
Front. Psychiatry. 2020-07-24; 11:
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00710
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https://www.bordeaux-neurocampus.fr/12489
Briot K(1)(2), Jean F(3), Jouni A(2), Geoffray MM(4), Ly-Le Moal M(5), Umbricht
D(6), Chatham C(6), Murtagh L(6), Delorme R(7)(8)(9), Bouvard M(1)(2)(7)(10),
Leboyer M(7)(9)(11), Amestoy A(1)(2)(7)(10).
Author information:
(1)University of Bordeaux, Medical Sciences Department, Bordeaux, France.
(2)Centre Hospitalier Charles-Perrens, Pôle Universitaire de Psychiatrie de
l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent, Bordeaux, France.
(3)Centre Hospitalier Dr Jean Eric Techer, Pôle de Psychiatrie de l’enfant et de
l’adolescent, Calais, France.
(4)Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre Hospitalier le
Vinatier, Bron, France.
(5)Institut Roche, Tour Horizons- Bureau 18M3, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
(6)Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Roche Innovation Center Basel,
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Basel, Switzerland.
(7)Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France.
(8)Institut Pasteur, Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions Unit, Paris, France.
(9)Université Paris Est Créteil, AP-HP, DMU IMPACT, Psychiatry and Addictology
Department, Mondor University Hospital, Créteil, France.
(10)Aquitaine Institute for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience, INCIA UMR
5287, Bordeaux, France.
(11)INSERM, U955, IMRB, Laboratoire de NeuroPsychiatrie translationnelle,
Créteil, France.
BACKGROUND: Recognition of symptoms of Social anxiety (SA) may be difficult
among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) because of overlap
between social anxiety and autistic symptomatology. The main aim of our study
was thus to explore the association between symptoms of social anxiety and
clinical characteristics of ASD in order to identify individuals experiencing
concomitant ASD and social anxiety disorder. We also described the prevalence of
SA in a sample of children and adolescents with ASD.
METHOD: 79 children and adolescents with ASD (with and without intellectual
disability) and 28-matched control participants were recruited in two French
Expert Centers for ASD, coordinated by the Fundation FondaMental. Psychiatric
comorbidities, anxiety disorders and depression were screened with standard
tools (Liebowitz social anxiety scale, Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Rating
Scale) and correlated to autistic features and social skills assessed with the
social responsiveness scale 2 (SRS-2) and the repetitive behavior scale (RBS-R).
We performed bivariate analysis between the social anxiety level and the scores
measured with different clinical scales. We then adjusted the observed
relationships with the alterations of SRS-2 and RBS-R scores.
RESULTS: After adjustment, the level of social anxiety appeared as significantly
associated with alterations in social reciprocity and particularly with the
SRS-2 « social communication » and « social motivation » sub-scores, but not with
RBS-R score.
CONCLUSIONS: We confirm previous reports showing that individuals with ASD are
at high risk for specific anxiety disorders. In particular, high levels of
impairments in social motivation and social communication (SRS-2) are indicative
of comorbid disorders namely, social anxiety and ASD. Our findings clearly
inform diagnostic assessment in ASD and stress the need to take comorbid anxiety
disorders into consideration to improve treatment of ASD. To further clarify the
impact of social anxiety on social competences and socio-adaptive handicap,
longitudinal studies and cluster analysis will be needed in the future.
Copyright © 2020 Briot, Jean, Jouni, Geoffray, Ly-Le Moal, Umbricht, Chatham,
Murtagh, Delorme, Bouvard, Leboyer and Amestoy.
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00710
PMCID: PMC7393242
PMID: 32793002