The quality of the relationship between mother and infant may have profound implications for the development of a child. Early indicators of psychological vulnerability may allow targeting of support for the child's cognitive, emotional and social development. A challenging mother–infant relationship could be one indicator of risk.

This study examined variations in psychological well-being and psychopathology among boys and girls according to early maternal perception of the mother–infant relationship.

This study is based on 64 663 mother–infant pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort, for which data on the mother–infant relationship were collected at 6 months postpartum. Behavioural problems were assessed with the Danish version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at child ages 7, 11 and 18 years, and we retrieved information on diagnosed childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders and prescriptions of psychotropic drugs from Danish registries.

Children in the challenging mother–infant relationship group had higher odds of behavioural problems at age 7 among both boys and girls. The same pattern of elevated estimates was identified for boys across all SDQ domains and for girls in three of five SDQ domains. All associations were attenuated at age 18, but increased odds of behavioural problems still existed. A challenging early mother–infant relationship increased the offspring's risk of being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder or being prescribed a psychotropic drug before the age of 18.

A challenging self-reported mother–infant relationship was associated with later psychopathological difficulties. Routine clinical enquiry may be useful in identification of future vulnerability.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with autistic spectrum disorders may exhibit symptoms that can also appear in psychotic disorders, such as isolation and difficulties in social interaction. In addition, these patients may also present psychotic symptoms throughout their lives, sometimes difficult to differentiate from the patient’s own idiosyncrasies.

OBJECTIVES: To deepen the knowledge of the comorbidity of autism spectrum disorders, in particular psychosis, as well as the differential diagnosis in order to establish an adequate treatment plan and a multidisciplinary approach.

METHODS: A detailed description is given of two cases of adolescents diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder who have presented time-limited psychotic symptomatology in the last year. In addition, a literature search was conducted on the comorbidity of psychosis in patients with ASD.

RESULTS: Both patients have required several hospital admissions to psychiatric units when they have had psychotic decompensations and psychopharmacological treatment with antipsychotics has been initiated.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with autistic spectrum disorders have a wide comorbidity. Psychosis can appear in these patients, often starting in adolescence, a time when social demands increase and patients can become decompensated. They require rapid, multi-level intervention.

No significant relationships.

There is a growing interest in the relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Eating Disorders (ED), two relatively common conditions lying on a spectrum from mild to severe clinical features. However, only limited data are available about pathological eating behaviours throughout adults on the autistic spectrum.

The aim of the present study is to assess dysfunctional eating behaviours, including ED manifestations and ASD-related eating disturbances, in a population of adults with ASD with no intellectual disabilities.

We recruited 115 adults on the autistic spectrum, with no intellectual disability and 114 neurotypical adults (NA). Participants completed the “Eating Attitude Test” (EAT-26), to measure symptoms and concerns characteristic of ED, and the “Swedish Eating Assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorders” (SWEAA), to assess eating behaviours frequently seen within the autistic spectrum.

Subjects with ASD scored significantly higher than NA at the EAT-26 and at the SWEAA. Women reported higher scores than men. Moreover, an interaction effect Group*Gender emerged at the EAT-26 only, with women with ASD scoring higher than men with and than NA overall. ASD subjects scored higher than NA at the EAT-26 subscales Dieting and Bulimia. Furthermore, the higher the SWEAA total score was, the more likely it was that a subject on the autistic spectrum would score above the cut-off of 20 at the EAT-26.

These results indicate that adults with ASD without intellectual disability presented not only a higher prevalence of eating disturbances typical of autistic spectrum, but also other ED symptoms in comparison to NA.

No significant relationships.