Association between severity and repetitive behaviours among children with autism spectrum disorder and anxiety and depression among their primary caregivers

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most common pervasive developmental disorder and present with varied severity and clinical presentation. The diagnosis of ASD in the children has a huge psychological impact among their primary caregivers, leading to distress and mental health issues. The aim of our study was to assess the association between the severity and repetitive behaviours in children with autism spectrum disorder and anxiety and depression levels among their primary caregivers. Materials and methods: Children with autism spectrum disorder and their primary caregivers were recruited from the child psychiatry unit of large tertiary children hospital in south India, after informed consent. Severity of ASD was assessed by Childhood Autism Rating Scale – 1 (CARS-1) and repetitive behaviour by Repetitive behaviour scale - Revised (RBS-R). Among the caregivers, anxiety levels were assessed by Hamilton rating scale for Anxiety (HAM-A) and depression levels were assessed by Hamilton rating scale for Depression (HAM-D). Results: We recruited 100 children with ASD and their mothers (primary caregivers) in the study. The prevalence of anxiety and depression among mothers of children with ASD was 44% and 30%. Statistically significant correlation was observed between CARS scores and HAM-A (p=0.002) and HAM-D (p less than 0.001) scores. Among the repetitive behaviours, self-injurious behaviour was found to be significantly associated with anxiety (p less than 0.001) and depression (p less than 0.001) scores, while stereotyped (P =0.002) and compulsive (p=0.004) behaviours were associated with depression scores. Conclusion: There is a significant association between severity of autism spectrum disorder and anxiety and depression among their mothers.