Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Assessment and diagnosis
- Part II Psychopathology and special topics
- 6 The psychopathology of children with intellectual disabilities
- 7 Depression, anxiety and adjustment disorders in people with intellectual disabilities
- 8 Schizophrenia spectrum disorders in people with intellectual disabilities
- 9 Personality disorder
- 10 Dementia and mental ill-health in older people with intellectual disabilities
- 11 People with intellectual disabilities who are at risk of offending
- 12 Behavioural phenotypes: growing understandings of psychiatric disorders in individuals with intellectual disabilities
- 13 Mental health problems in people with autism and related disorders
- 14 Self-injurious behaviour
- 15 Mental health and epilepsy among adults with intellectual disabilities
- 16 Neuroimaging and intellectual disabilities
- Part III Treatment and therapeutic interventions
- Part IV Policy and service systems
- Index
- References
13 - Mental health problems in people with autism and related disorders
from Part II - Psychopathology and special topics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Assessment and diagnosis
- Part II Psychopathology and special topics
- 6 The psychopathology of children with intellectual disabilities
- 7 Depression, anxiety and adjustment disorders in people with intellectual disabilities
- 8 Schizophrenia spectrum disorders in people with intellectual disabilities
- 9 Personality disorder
- 10 Dementia and mental ill-health in older people with intellectual disabilities
- 11 People with intellectual disabilities who are at risk of offending
- 12 Behavioural phenotypes: growing understandings of psychiatric disorders in individuals with intellectual disabilities
- 13 Mental health problems in people with autism and related disorders
- 14 Self-injurious behaviour
- 15 Mental health and epilepsy among adults with intellectual disabilities
- 16 Neuroimaging and intellectual disabilities
- Part III Treatment and therapeutic interventions
- Part IV Policy and service systems
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
The issue of psychiatric co-morbidity in adolescents with autism and related disorders is a complex one (Volkmar and Klin, 2005). On the one hand it does appear that, as with other developmental disorders, a process of diagnostic overshadowing has tended to occur, i.e. a tendency to overlook co-morbid conditions given the significance of the individual's other developmental problems (Dykens, 2000).
On the other hand it is also quite clear that, of itself, a condition like autism will be associated with a range of additional symptoms which may not, necessarily, rise to the level of ‘disorder’. For example, problems with attention are frequently seen in autism and Asperger's syndrome, but it remains unclear whether such difficulties are sufficient to achieve an additional diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Nevertheless some researchers have proposed that such a combination may prove to be a robust subtype (Landgren et al., 1996). This problem is further compounded when the issue is co-morbid diagnosis of conditions, like anxiety or depression, in lower-functioning adolescents, i.e. in individuals with little or no expressive language. Additionally much of the data on psychiatric co-morbidity in adolescence rests largely on case reports. As noted elsewhere (Volkmar & Woolston, 1997; Kent et al., 1999; Slone et al., 1999) this literature is difficult to interpret given the bias for positive associations to be published; the critical issue is whether rates of a given disorder in larger (ideally epidemiologically representative) samples can demonstrate significant elevations in the rates of co-morbid conditions (Fombonne, 2003).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Psychiatric and Behavioural Disorders in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities , pp. 215 - 224Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
References
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