The predictive relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms in young autistic children with few to no words

Rossow, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0495-1933, MacLennan, K. and Tavassoli, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7898-2994 (2023) The predictive relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms in young autistic children with few to no words. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53. pp. 2384-2394. ISSN 0162-3257 doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05528-9

Abstract/Summary

Depression and sensory reactivity are both common in autism. However, there is little understanding of the predictive relationship between these factors, or the nature of this relationship in autistic children who speak few to no words. This study set out to explore the longitudinal relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms in 33 young autistic children who speak few to no words. We found positive correlations between depressive symptoms and hyper-reactivity and sensory seeking at both timepoints, and across timepoints. We further found a bidirectional predictive relationship between depressive symptoms and sensory seeking. These results implicate sensory seeking in the development of depressive symptoms in young autistic children who use few to no words. Our findings have important implications for preventative mental health interventions, especially for those with a developmental language delay.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/104360
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s10803-022-05528-9
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Charlie Waller Institute Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Clinical Language Sciences
Publisher	Springer
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