Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42165058›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2026

Brief report: joint trajectories of anxiety and depression symptoms in an inception cohort of autistic youth.

Michelle C Hunsche, Anat Zaidman-Zait, Melissa Olana, Peter Szatmari, Teresa Bennett, Eric Duku, Stelios Georgiades, Isabel M Smith, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Mayada Elsabbagh and 3 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

13 authors.

Michelle C HunscheDepartment of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Anat Zaidman-ZaitSchool of Education, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Melissa OlanaDepartment of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Peter SzatmariDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Teresa BennettOfford Centre for Child Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Eric DukuOfford Centre for Child Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Stelios GeorgiadesOfford Centre for Child Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Isabel M SmithDepartment of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Lonnie ZwaigenbaumDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Mayada ElsabbaghDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Tracy VaillancourtCounselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Rachael BedfordCentre for Brain and Behaviour, Department of Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Connor M KernsDepartment of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background and Aims: Anxiety and depression symptoms are common among autistic youth, yet little is known about the pattern and relationship of their trajectories from childhood into adolescence, a period of increasing social and academic demands. Methods: This study used parallel process latent growth curve models to examine joint trajectories, including initial levels and rate of change in caregiver-reported depression and anxiety symptoms across age 7-16 within an inception cohort of autistic youth with varied communication abilities. We also examined autistic traits, sex assigned at birth, emotional reactivity and communication ability as potential predictors. Child anxiety and depression symptoms were estimated from Child Behavior Checklist Anxiety and Affective Problems subscales, completed by caregivers approximately annually. Results: Whereas anxiety symptoms were relatively stable from childhood into adolescence, depression symptoms increased on average; significant heterogeneity of individual trajectories underlaid these overall trends. Findings indicated cross-sectional and longitudinal co-occurrence of anxiety and depression symptoms. Greater autistic traits and emotional reactivity correlated with greater initial anxiety and depression symptoms, but not their trajectories. Stronger communication ability correlated with more initial anxiety, but decreasing anxiety symptoms over time. Conclusions: Findings indicate group-level changes in depression symptoms and synchronous evolution of anxiety and depression symptoms in autistic youth across childhood and adolescence. This indicates the importance of joint monitoring of anxiety and depression symptoms in this period, with changes being potentially informative for early detection and intervention. Considering how anxiety symptom presentation may evolve across development may be a helpful next step to identifying at-risk subgroups.

Indexed as

adolescenceanxietyautismchildhooddepressionlongitudinal trajectories

Identifiers

PMID42165058
PMCPMC13184799

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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.