Comorbid Psychopathology, Challenging Behavior, Sensory Issues, Adaptive Behavior and Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Figures & data

Table 1. Autism spectrum comorbid for children (ASD-CC) subscale mean scores, and standard deviation

ASD-CC subscale	M	SD
Repetitive Behaviors	6.96	3.65
Worry/Depressed	4.77	2.59
Avoidant Behaviors	6.91	3.14
Undereating	1.21	1.77
Conduct Behaviors	2.56	2.22
Overeating	1.59	1.81

Table 2. Demographic information, frequencies and percentages

Demographic
		No/mild comorbid psychopathology (12.8%; n = 17)		Moderate comorbid psychopathology (30.8%; n = 41)		Severe comorbid psychopathology (56.4%; n = 75)		Total sample (N = 133)		χ^2	p
		n	Percent	n	Percent	n	Percent	n	Percent
Gender Age	Male	11	64.7%	30	73.2%	59	78.7%	100	75.2%	1.34	.511
	Female	6	35.3%	11	26.8%	16	21.3%	33	24.8%
	2–4 years	3	17.6%	3	7.3%	3	4%	12	9%	39.82	.227
	5–7 years	7	41.2%	12	29.3%	20	26.7%	38	28.6%
	8–12 years	5	29.4%	18	43.9%	34	45.3%	55	41.4%
	13–18 years	2	11.8%	8	19.5%	18	24%	28	21%

Table 3. Current comorbid diagnoses and medication usage including frequencies and percentages in no/mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology

		No/mild comorbid psychopathology (12.8%; n = 17)		Moderate comorbid psychopathology (30.8%; n = 41)		Severe comorbid psychopathology (56.4%; n = 75)		Total sample (N = 133)		χ^2	p
		n	Percent	n	Percent	n	Percent	n	Percent
ADHD diagnosis	ADHD diagnosis	3	17.6%	8	19.52%	33	44%	44	33.1	.26**	.01
	No ADHD diagnosis	14	82.4%	33	80.5%	42	56%	89	66.9
Medication at present	Yes	3	17.6%	19	46.3%	40	55.3%	62	46.6%	5.71	.058
	No	14	82.4%	22	53.7%	35	46.7%	71	53.4%
Presence of intellectual disability	Intellectual Disability	8	47.1%	10	24.4%	27	36%	44	33.1%	3.36	.186
	No Intellectual Disability	9	52.9%	31	75.6%	48	64%	89	66.9%
Level of intellectual disability	Mild Intellectual Disability	3	17.6%	6	14.6%	13	17.3%	22	16.5%	10.97	.089
	Moderate Intellectual Disability	5	29.4%	4	9.8%	8	10.7%	18	12.8%
	Severe Intellectual Disability	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	8	10.7%	8	6.1%

Table 4. Behavior problems inventory-short form (BPI-S) subscale mean scores, standard deviations, Partial Eta Squared results, and mean scores between no-mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology groups

Subscale	M	SD	F	p	Partial eta squared	M no-mild	M moderate	M severe
BPI-S SIB Frequency	4.46	4.26	10.63	.000*	.14	2.67	2.65	5.87
BPI-S SIB Severity	3.24	3.41	12.49	.000*	.16	1.61	1.73	4.44
BPI-S Aggressive/ Destructive Behavior Frequency	7.98	7.06	7.00	.001**	.09	4.44	6.05	9.87
BPI-S Aggressive/ Destructive Behavior Severity	6.30	6.072	8.75	.000*	.11	3.39	4.20	8.12
BPI-S Stereotyped Behavior Frequency	17.44	11.32	10.32	.000*	.13	10.17	14.13	20.96

** p < .001, * p < .005

Table 5. Pearson correlations between ADS-CC subscales and subscales of the BPI-S and PedsQL

	ASD-CC subscale
	Tantrum behaviors	Repetitive behaviors	Worry	Avoidant behaviors	Undereating	Conduct behaviors	Overeating
PedsQL Subscale
2–4 yrs
Psychosocial Health	−.87**	−.41	−.59	−.52	−.39	−.59	−.41
Physical Health	−.63	−.34	−.27	−.70	−.71*	−.02	−.47
5–7 yrs
Psychosocial Health	−.74**	−.54**	−.58**	−.70**	−.19	−.52**	−.39*
Physical Health	−.37*	−.44**	−.38*	−.57**	−.04	−.28	−.37*
8–12 yrs
Psychosocial Health	−.46**	−.36**	−.44**	−.65**	−.04	−.34*	−.24
Physical Health	−.43**	−.23	−.55**	−.47**	−.05	−.15	−.08
13–18 yrs
Psychosocial Health	−.67**	−.51**	−.65**	−.55**	−.48**	−.02	−.19
Physical Health	−.55**	−.44*	−.53**	−.43*	−.47*	.13	−.23
BPI-S Subscale
SIB Frequency	.37**	.60**	.12	.27**	.23**	.05	.20*
SIB Severity	.41**	.62**	.18*	.32**	.22*	.07	.25**
Aggressive/ destructive behavior Frequency	.68**	.31**	.15	.18*	−.05	.53**	.09
Aggressive/ destructive behavior Severity	.67**	.31**	.19*	.15	−.04	.55**	.10
Stereotyped Behavior Frequency	.36**	.76**	.19*	.37**	.15	.12	.28**

*p < .05

**p < .01

Table 6. Short Sensory Profile (SSP) subscale mean scores, standard deviation, Partial Eta Squared results, and mean scores between no-mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology groups

Subscale	M	SD	F	p	Partial eta squared	M no-mild	M moderate	M severe
Tactile sensitivity	21.92	6.74	11.56	.000**	.15	28.00	22.48	20.17
Taste/Smell sensitivity	9.25	5.54	14.52	.000**	.18	14.78	9.70	7.70
Movement sensitivity	11.27	3.50	2.19	.116	.03	12.83	10.85	11.12
Under responive/Seeks sensation	19.24	7.33	12.30	.000**	.15	24.22	21.63	16.77
Auditory Filtering	14.03	5.04	13.17	.000**	.16	17.28	15.90	12.25
Low energy/Weak	19.96	7.41	6.09	.003*	.08	23.28	21.98	18.09
Visual/Auditory sensitivity	14.42	5.14	8.06	.001*	.11	18.33	14.85	13.25

** p < .001, * p < .005

Table 7. Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) total mean scores, standard deviations, Partial Eta Squared results, and mean scores between no-mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology groups

Subscale	M	SD	F	p	Partial eta squared	M no-mild	M moderate	M severe
PedsQL 2–4 years	6.18	1.37	3.29	.207	0.05	7.19	6.22	5.16
PedsQL 5–7 years	4.45	1.49	9.10	.001*	0.33	6.10	4.69	3.74
PedsQL 8–12 years	4.01	1.42	3.50	.036*	0.11	4.91	4.45	3.63
PedsQL 13–18 years	4.56	1.41	6.00	.007*	0.32	7.08	4.90	4.09

* p < .005

Table 8. Vineland II Adaptive Behavior scales (VABS) total mean score, subscale mean scores, standard deviation, Partial Eta Squared results, and mean scores between no-mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology groups

Subscale	M	SD	F	p	Partial eta squared	M no-mild	M moderate	M severe
Adaptive behavior composite	37.05	11.66	.09	.917	.00	32.43	30.65	31.31
Communication	42.97	12.78	.28	.760	.01	38.26	35.67	38.96
Daily living skills	36.23	13.87	.01	.989	.00	27.37	27.00	26.78
Socialization	31.94	11.24	.38	.689	.02	31.67	29.27	28.19
Motor skills	23.75	6.48	.08	.926	.00	23.39	23.31	24.19

Table 9. Behavioral/Educational and Complementary/Alternative Medicine (CAM) Interventions, total frequency and percentages in no/mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology groups

	Behavioral/educational and CAM interventions	No/mild comorbid psychopathology (12.8%; n = 17)		Moderate comorbid psychopathology (30.8%; n = 41)		Severe comorbid psychopathology (56.4%; n = 75)
		n	Percent	n	Percent	n	Percent
	Speech therapy	8	47.1%	11	26.8%	26	34.7%
	Behavioral therapy	2	11.8%	2	4.9%	13	17.3%
	DIR floor time	1	5.9%	1	2.4%	6	8%
	Physical therapy	3	17.6%	4	9.8%	11	14.7%
	Verbal behavior training	0	0%	3	7.3%	7	9.3%
	Family therapy	1	5.9%	6	14.6%	4	5.3%
	Academic tutoring	1	5.9%	6	14.6%	18	24%
	Social skills training	1	5.9%	11	26.8%	25	33.3%
	Chiropractics	1	5.9%	3	7.3%	2	2.7%
	Amino acids	0	0%	0	0%	1	1.3%
	High dosing Vitamin B6 and Magnesium	1	5.9%	3	7.3%	4	5.3%
Essential fatty acids		1	5.9%	3	7.3%	4	5.3%
Other vitamin supplements		2	11.8%	13	31.7%	15	20%
Gluten free diet		1	5.9%	4	9.8%	1	1.3%
Probiotics		3	17.6%	8	19.5%	10	13.3%
Casein free diet		0	0%	1	2.4%	3	4%
No processed sugars		0	0%	1	2.4%	2	2.7%
Glutathione		0	0%	1	2.4%	0	0%
Other CAM		1	5.9%	7	17.1%	5	6.7%

Table 10. Social communication questionnaire-second edition (SCQ) subscales, total mean scores, standard deviations, partial Eta Squared results, and mean scores between no-mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology groups

Subscale	M	SD	F	p	Partial eta squared	M no-mild	M moderate	M severe
Reciprocal social interaction	8.25	3.86	8.85	.001*	.10	12.00	8.88	7.72
Communication	7.82	3.09	1.66	.158	.02	9.33	9.33	8.29
Stereotypy	5.63	2.13	7.23	.004*	.08	5.00	6.40	7.28
SCQ total	24.09	6.61	1.72	.184	.02	26.33	24.60	23.29

* p < .005

Figure 1. Scores on the SCQ for participants with no/mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology