The Association Between Autistic Traits and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Preliminary Findings Among Typically-developing Adults in Israel

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Although studies show that those suffering from autism spectrum disorders (ASD) face an increased risk of exposure to trauma (bullying, physical abuse), the co-morbidity between autistic symptoms/traits and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was almost entirely neglected by researchers. The aim of this preliminary study is to explore the possible associations between these two conditions among typically-developing college students. METHODS Participants were 39 students, recruited from 2 Israeli universities. Twenty-four participants were psychology students, and 15 were business administration students. Participants completed self-report questionnaires tapping sociodemographic background, trauma exposure, PTSD (the PTSD Checklist-5, PCL-5), and autistic traits (the Autism Spectrum Quotient, AQ). RESULTS Our preliminary findings revealed a positive association between symptoms of PTSD and autistic traits. More specifically, among those in the 3rd and 4th highest quartiles of AQ scores, 87.5% met the cut-off score for a probable PTSD diagnosis (χ2 (3)=8.25, P<0.05). In addition, t-tests comparing the PTSD and non-PTSD groups showed significant differences in 3 out of 5 AQ sub-scales: social skill (t(37)=–2.12; P<0.05), attention switching (t(37)=−2.09; P<0.05) and communication (t(37)=−2.80; P<0.01). Thus, higher AQ scores were reported by those in the PTSD group. CONCLUSIONS ASD may serve as a significant risk factor for post-traumatic symptomatology. The associations between these two conditions may be mediated by a variety of potential shared vulnerabilities, including increased rumination, dysregulated emotion and impaired social cognition. Further research is needed in order to explore these mechanisms, as well as to assess co-morbidity in clinical samples of both ASD and PTSD.