Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Longitudinal and Offspring Risk
- PMID: 26558765
- PMCID: PMC4641696
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141703
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Longitudinal and Offspring Risk
Abstract
Background: Despite substantial similarities and overlaps in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) and autism spectrum disorders, little is known about the clinical and etiologic cohesion of these two disorders. We therefore aimed to determine the patterns of comorbidity, longitudinal risks, and shared familial risks between these disorders.
Methods: In a prospective study design we explored the effect of a prior diagnosis of OCD in patients and parents on the susceptibility to autism spectrum disorders and vice versa. Analyses were adjusted for sex, age, calendar year, parental age and place at residence at time of birth. As measures of relative risk incidence rate ratios (IRR) and accompanying 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were employed.
Results: The risk of a comorbid diagnosis of OCD in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and aggregation of autism spectrum disorders in offspring of parents with OCD were increased. Individuals first diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders had a 2-fold higher risk of a later diagnosis of OCD (IRR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.91-2.48), whereas individuals diagnosed with OCD displayed a nearly 4-fold higher risk to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (IRR = 3.91, 95% CI = 3.46-4.40) later in life. The observed associations were somewhat stronger for less severe types of autism spectrum disorders without a comorbid diagnosis of mental disabilities.
Conclusions: The high comorbidity, sequential risk, and shared familial risks between OCD and autism spectrum disorders are suggestive of partially shared etiological mechanisms. The results have implications for current gene-searching efforts and for clinical practice.
Conflict of interest statement
Figures
Similar articles
-
Anxiety Disorders and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2017 Oct 30;19(12):92. doi: 10.1007/s11920-017-0846-y. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2017. PMID: 29082426 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Familial clustering of tic disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder.JAMA Psychiatry. 2015 Apr;72(4):359-66. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2656. JAMA Psychiatry. 2015. PMID: 25692669
-
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Psychosis, and Bipolarity: A Longitudinal Cohort and Multigenerational Family Study.Schizophr Bull. 2015 Sep;41(5):1076-83. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbu169. Epub 2014 Dec 15. Schizophr Bull. 2015. PMID: 25512596 Free PMC article.
-
Obsessive-compulsive disorder as a risk factor for schizophrenia: a nationwide study.JAMA Psychiatry. 2014 Nov;71(11):1215-21. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.1011. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014. PMID: 25188738
-
[Treatment-refractory OCD from the viewpoint of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders: impact of comorbid child and adolescent psychiatric disorders].Seishin Shinkeigaku Zasshi. 2013;115(9):990-6. Seishin Shinkeigaku Zasshi. 2013. PMID: 24228477 Review. Japanese.
Cited by
-
Autistic Traits as Predictors of Increased Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Severity: The Role of Inflexibility and Communication Impairment.Brain Sci. 2024 Jan 9;14(1):64. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14010064. Brain Sci. 2024. PMID: 38248279 Free PMC article.
-
Primary care physicians' experience of caring for children with parents with mental health illness: a qualitative study among French general practitioners and paediatricians.BMC Prim Care. 2023 Sep 18;24(1):190. doi: 10.1186/s12875-023-02145-y. BMC Prim Care. 2023. PMID: 37718455 Free PMC article.
-
Do Autistic Traits Predict Outcome of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2023 Aug;51(8):1083-1095. doi: 10.1007/s10802-023-01078-5. Epub 2023 May 18. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2023. PMID: 37199908 Free PMC article.
-
Misdiagnosis of Psychosis and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a Young Patient with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Case Rep Psychiatry. 2023 Feb 14;2023:7705913. doi: 10.1155/2023/7705913. eCollection 2023. Case Rep Psychiatry. 2023. PMID: 36824478 Free PMC article.
-
Going beyond the DSM in predicting, diagnosing, and treating autism spectrum disorder with covarying alexithymia and OCD: A structural equation model and process-based predictive coding account.Front Psychol. 2022 Sep 6;13:993381. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.993381. eCollection 2022. Front Psychol. 2022. PMID: 36148114 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Surveillance Year 2008 Principal Investigators. Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders: autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network: 14 sites, United States, 2008. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2012;61: 1–19. - PubMed
-
- de Bruin EI, Ferdinand RF, Meester S, de Nijs PF, Verheij F. High rates of psychiatric co-morbidity in PDD-NOS. J Autism Dev Disord. 2007;37(5): 877–86. - PubMed
-
- MacNeil BM LV, Minnes PM Anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 2009;3: 1–21.
-
- Simonoff E, Pickles A, Charman T, Chandler S, Loucas T, Baird G. Psychiatric disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders: prevalence, comorbidity, and associated factors in a population-derived sample. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2008;47(8): 921–9. 10.1097/CHI.0b013e318179964f - DOI - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Research Materials