ArticleSchizophrenia bulletin2023
Childhood Trauma As a Mediator of the Association Between Autistic Traits and Psychotic Experiences: Evidence From the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Cohort.
Article in Schizophrenia bulletin, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The association between autism and psychosis and the tools used to measure it: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Unravelling Distress in Psychotic-Like Experiences: A Systematic Review of Non-Clinical Populations.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- The relationships between anxiety, psychotic-like experiences and autism: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Childhood trauma as a mediator between autistic traits and depression: Evidence from the ALSPAC birth cohort.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Differential Associations of Adversity and Victimisation With Psychotic Experiences in Autistic Adolescents.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Developmental Pathways From Childhood Neurodevelopmental Traits to Early Adolescent Psychiatric Dimensions: The Role of Environmental and Lifestyle Factors.JAACAP open · 2026Article
- Early trauma and psychotic experiences in autism: a neurodevelopmental framework integrating allostatic overload, symbolisation, and stress reactivity.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Cognitive-Developmental Mechanisms in Hallucinations.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2025Review
- Clinical implications of autistic features in the psychosis spectrum: a cross-sectional study using path analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Assessment of common mental disorders in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort at age 24 years using the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised (CIS-R).Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- The Moderating Role of Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Schizophrenia on the Relationship between Autistic Traits and Psychosis Expression in the General Population.Schizophrenia bulletin open · 2025Article
- Developmental Profile in Children Aged 3-6 Years: Down Syndrome vs. Autism Spectrum Disorder.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLittle is known on whether associations between childhood autistic traits and psychotic experiences persist into adulthood and whether genetic confounding and childhood trauma influence them. Here we investigate the associations between childhood autistic traits and psychotic experiences until young adulthood and assess the influence of schizophrenia polygenic risk and childhood traumatic experiences, using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) population-based birth cohort. STUDY
designWe used a measure of broad autistic traits (autism factor mean score), and four dichotomised measures of autistic traits capturing social communication difficulties (age 7), repetitive behaviours (age 5), sociability (age 3), and pragmatic language (age 9). Psychotic experiences were assessed at ages 18 and 24 using the semi-structured Psychosis-Like Symptoms interview (PLIKSi). Traumatic experiences between ages 5 and 11 were assessed with questionnaires and interviews administered to children and parents at multiple ages. STUDY
resultsBroad autistic traits, as well as social communication difficulties, were associated with psychotic experiences that were distressing and/or frequent until age 24 (autism factor mean score, n = 3707: OR 1.19, 95%CI 1.01-1.39; social communication difficulties, n = 3384: OR 1.54, 95%CI 0.97-2.45). Childhood trauma mediated a substantial proportion of the identified associations (~28% and 36% respectively, maximum n = 3577). Schizophrenia polygenic risk did not appear to confound the associations. Multiple imputation analyses (maximum n = 13 105) yielded comparable results.
conclusionsChildhood trauma may be an important, potentially modifiable pathway between autistic features and later onset of psychotic psychopathology.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.