CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 25Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentChild Nutrition and Feeding Issues

A systematic review of the rates of depression in autistic children and adolescents without intellectual disability

Open access
Stewart, Tracy M., Martin, Katherine, Fazi, Michela, Oldridge, Jessica, Piper, Allan, Rhodes, Sinead M.·2022·Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice
DOI 10.1111/papt.12366
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Increasing evidence suggests that major depressive disorder (MDD) is highly prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study is a systematic review of rates of depression in autistic children and adolescents, without intellectual disability. DESIGN: Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, a total of 14,557 studies were identified through five databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cinahl, ERIC, PsycINFO, and Web of Science). METHODS: Articles were screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria and 10% double coded at each stage. Nineteen studies met criteria and were retained in the review. RESULT: The reported rates of depression in autistic children and adolescents varied from 0% to 83.3%. We discuss these findings in relation to method of report (self/informant, interview/questionnaire), recruitment status (clinical/community recruited), and age (pre-pubertal/adolescent). CONCLUSION: Rates of depression vary considerably across studies and do not show a particular pattern in relation to methodology, or age. Our research joins a crucial call to action from the research community for future research to improve the identification of depression in autism, which in turn will aid our understanding of the potentially different characterization and manifestation of depression in autism, to ultimately improve assessment and treatment of depression in autistic children and adolescents. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Rates of depression in autistic children and adolescents vary and do not show a particular pattern in relation to methodology or age. Our research joins the call to action from the research community for future research to improve the identification of depression in autistic children and adolescents, which in turn will aid understanding of depression in autism, and ultimately improve assessment and treatment of depression in autistic children and young people. The development of new measures of depression, specifically designed with, and for, children and adolescents with autism, is warranted.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/papt.12366

Cites

109 of 109 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The reported point prevalence of MDD among youths with ASD varies between 0 and 88%.

    “and the reported point prevalence of MDD among youths with ASDsvaries between 0 and 88% [4].”

    From Cognitive Coping Strategies among Inpatient Adolescents with Depression and Psychiatric Comorbidity (2023) · cites this paper as [4]

    The Discussion (page not available in our copy) gives a range of 0%–83.3% for depression rates in autistic children and adolescents, not 0%–88%. The Community vs clinically recruited section likewise reports 0%–83.3% for clinically recruited participants. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. American Psychiatric Association (APA). (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 4th edition, revised. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
  2. Gadow, K., Sprafkin, J., Carlson, G., Schneider, J. A., Nolan, E., Mattison, R., . . . Rundberg- Rivera, V. (2002). A DSM-IV-referenced adolescent self-reporting scale. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 671-679.
  3. Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3 rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
  4. Wechsler, D. (2004). Wechsler preschool and primary school intelligence scale (3rd ed.). London: Harcourt Assessment.
  5. Weller, E. B., Weller, R. A., Teare, M., & Fristad, M. A. (1999). Parent Version Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes (P-ChIPS). Washington: American Psychiatric Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Stewart, T. M., Martin, K., Fazi, M., Oldridge, J., Piper, A., & Rhodes, S. M.
Affiliations
  • University of Edinburgh (GB)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
  • Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
  • NHS Lothian (GB)
  • Child Life and Health Clinical Brain Sciences University of Edinburgh UK
ORCID
Venue
Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2021-10-03
Volume
95
Issue
1
Pages
313-344
ISSN
  • 1476-0835 (ISSN-L)
  • 2044-8341
DOI
10.1111/papt.12366
OpenAlex
W3203077524
Cited by
25
References
109
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5
FWCI
0.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
Keywords
depression, autism spectrum disorder, children with autism, autistic adolescents, major depressive disorder, prevalence rates, intellectual disability, depression assessment
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Autistic Disorder, Child, Depression, Major Depressive Disorder, Humans, Intellectual Disability

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review