Neurodiversity and mental health in adulthood: exploring the unique contributions of autism and ADHD to internalising problems - PubMed
21 hours ago
- #neurodiversity
- #mental health
- #autism ADHD internalizing
- Autism and ADHD are both associated with internalizing problems like anxiety and depression, but their frequent co-occurrence complicates understanding their unique contributions.
- The study used a trait-based approach with a large general population sample (N=4996) and a clinical sub-sample (n=292) to examine these relationships.
- ADHD traits were found to be a stronger predictor of internalizing problem diagnoses than autistic traits across the whole sample.
- In the clinical sub-sample, both autistic adults and adults with ADHD had higher odds of anxiety, depression, or any internalizing problem compared to neurotypical adults.
- ADHD diagnosis was more closely linked with depression, while autism diagnosis was more closely linked with anxiety, though the clinical groups did not significantly differ overall.
- The research highlights implications for understanding psychological mechanisms and improving clinical practices for neurodevelopmental conditions.