Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41830983›Full record

ArticleResearch on child and adolescent psychopathology2026

Conceptualizing Autism as a Behavioral Network: Transdiagnostic Associations with Co-occurring Psychiatric Conditions.

Gloria T Han, Shashwat Kala, Adam Naples, Geraldine Dawson, Susan Faja, Frederick Shic, Sara Jane Webb, Catherine A Sugar, Shafali Jeste, Natalia Kleinhans and 5 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Research on child and adolescent psychopathology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Gloria T HanVanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA. gloria.han@vumc.org.ORCID 0000-0002-4818-983X
Shashwat KalaYale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Adam NaplesYale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Geraldine DawsonDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Susan FajaBoston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Frederick ShicCenter on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
Sara Jane WebbCenter on Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
Catherine A SugarDepartment of Biostatistics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Shafali JesteDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Natalia KleinhansDepartment of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Katarzyna ChawarskaYale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Raphael BernierDepartment of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
James DziuraYale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
James C McPartlandYale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials

Funding

The Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical TrialsU19MH108206 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI KLEINHANS, NATALIA M · 2015 to 2024
$68.8M
TIPS: Training in Perioperative ScienceT32GM108554 · NIGMS · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI Eric J Delpire · 2014 to 2026
$3.7M
NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM108554NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM108554-11NIMH NIH HHS U19 MH108206
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Autism is characterized by marked heterogeneity in behavioral presentation and high rates of co-occurring psychiatric symptoms, which hinder diagnostic precision, personalized intervention, and long-term quality of life. Approach and withdrawal behaviors—subserved by core motivational systems underlying action and emotion—may serve as transdiagnostic processes linking autism with common co-occurring conditions in childhood. Guided by this framework, we examined how autism-related approach–withdrawal behaviors interrelate and connect to internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Using data from 280 autistic children aged 6 to 11 years enrolled in the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials, we constructed a Gaussian graphical model of approach–withdrawal behaviors. Core behaviors were identified using expected influence centrality. Autism, when conceptualized as a system of interconnected approach–withdrawal behaviors, was positively associated with common co-occurring psychiatric conditions, with strongest associations observed for anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Affect regulation–related nodes were most relevant to internalizing symptoms, whereas arousal regulation and sensory nodes were uniquely related to externalizing symptoms. These findings integrate transdiagnostic theories of approach-withdrawal motivation with network analysis and highlight clinically relevant targets for diagnostic refinement and intervention.

Indexed as

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityAutistic DisorderMental DisordersChildComorbidityFemaleHumansMaleAutismDiagnostic overshadowingNetwork analysisPsychiatric comorbiditySymptom overlapTransdiagnostic mechanisms

Identifiers

PMID41830983
PMCPMC12989010

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Registered trials

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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.