%0 Journal Article
%T Co-occurrence of autistic and psychotic traits: implications for depression, self-harm and suicidality
%J Psychological medicine
%D 2020
%A Sampson, Katie N.
%A Upthegrove, Rachel
%A Abu-Akel, Ahmad
%A Haque, Sayeed
%A Wood, Stephen J.
%A Reniers, Renate
%V ePub
%N ePub
%P ePub-ePub
%X BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in the clinical and aetiological overlap between autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, reported to co-occur at both diagnostic and trait levels. Individually, sub-clinical autistic and psychotic traits are associated with poor clinical outcomes, including increased depressive symptomatology, self-harming behaviour and suicidality. However, the implications when both traits co-occur remain poorly understood. The study aimed to (1) examine the relationship between autistic and psychotic traits and (2) determine if their co-occurrence increases depressive symptomatology, self-harm and suicidality. <br><br>METHODS: Cross-sectional data from a self-selecting (online and poster advertising) sample of the adult UK population (n = 653) were collected using an online survey. Validated self-report measures were used to assess sub-clinical autistic and psychotic traits, depressive symptomatology, self-harming behaviour and suicidality. Correlation and regression analyses were performed. <br><br>RESULTS: A positive correlation between sub-clinical autistic and positive psychotic traits was confirmed (rs = 0.509, p < 0.001). Overall, autistic traits and psychotic traits were, independently, significant predictors of depression, self-harm and suicidality. Intriguingly, however, depression was associated with a negative interaction between the autistic domain attention to detail and psychotic traits. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This study supports previous findings that sub-clinical autistic and psychotic traits are largely independently associated with depression, self-harm and suicidality, and is novel in finding that their combined presence has no additional effect on depression, self-harm or suicidality. These findings highlight the importance of considering both autistic and psychotic traits and their symptom domains in research and when developing population-based depression prevention and intervention strategies.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Cambridge University Press
%@ 0033-2917
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720000124