Publications

Authors:

Bortoletto, Riccardo; Bassani, Lorenzo; Garzitto, Marco; Lamberti, Marco; Simonati, Alessandro; Darra, Francesca; Bhattacharyya, Sagnik; Comacchio, Carla; Balestrieri, Matteo; Arcangeli, Donatella; Colizzi, Marco

Title:

Risk of psychosis in autism spectrum disorder individuals exposed to psychosocial stressors: A 9-year chart review study

Year:

2023

Type of item:

Articolo in Rivista

Tipologia ANVUR:

Articolo su rivista

Language:

Inglese

Format:

A Stampa

Referee:

Sì

Name of journal:

AUTISM RESEARCH

ISSN of journal:

1939-3792

N° Volume:

16

Number or Folder:

11

Page numbers:

2139-2149

Keyword:

Asperger's syndrome; bipolar disorder; childhood adversities; neurodevelopment; schizophrenia; youth mental health

Short description of contents:

Psychosocial stressors have been suggested to precipitate psychotic episodes in patients with pre-existing psychosis and otherwise healthy subjects. However, such a risk has never been formally investigated in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sixty-nine autistic adolescents hospitalized for psychotic/manic symptoms (PSY) and other mental health issues (NPSY) over a 9-year period were compared with reference to their previous exposure to psychosocial stressors. ASD diagnoses satisfied the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria. Psychotic/manic symptom assessment followed the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS). Psychosocial stressor exposure was collected separately at each admission. Preliminarily, univariate between-group comparisons were conducted. Then, a binomial model was adopted to investigate associations with previous exposure to psychosocial stressors. Results were reported with a change in AIC (ΔAIC). PSY patients presented with higher previous exposure to adverse life events (30.43% vs. 6.52%, OR = 6.079 [1.209, 40.926], p = 0.013) and school/work difficulties (30.43% vs. 8.70%, OR = 4.478 [0.984, 23.846], p = 0.034) than NPSY ones. Admissions for psychotic/manic symptoms occurred more likely in the context of family disturbances (OR = 2.275 [1.045, 5.045], p = 0.030) and adverse life events (OR = 3.489 [1.194, 11.161], p = 0.014). The fitted binomial model was found to be significant compared to the random effects model (ΔAIC = -1.962; χ2 10  = 21.96, p = 0.015), with the risk of presenting psychotic/manic symptoms being increased by family disturbances (z = +4.118) and school/work difficulties (z = +2.455). The results suggest a potential psychosis-inducing effect of psychosocial stressors in ASD, which has clinical and policy implications.

Web page:

https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3042

Product ID:

136190

Handle IRIS:

11562/1113006

Last Modified:

December 6, 2023

Bibliographic citation:

Bortoletto, Riccardo; Bassani, Lorenzo; Garzitto, Marco; Lamberti, Marco; Simonati, Alessandro; Darra, Francesca; Bhattacharyya, Sagnik; Comacchio, Carla; Balestrieri, Matteo; Arcangeli, Donatella; Colizzi, Marco, Risk of psychosis in autism spectrum disorder individuals exposed to psychosocial stressors: A 9-year chart review study «AUTISM RESEARCH» , vol. 16 , n. 11 , 2023 , pp. 2139-2149

Consulta la scheda completa presente nel repository istituzionale della Ricerca di Ateneo