Skip to main content

METHODS article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1447262

Autism and Psychopathology -Prevalence, Identification, and Symptoms Equivalence (APPrISE): study protocol

Provisionally accepted
Marco O. Bertelli Marco O. Bertelli 1*Annamaria Bianco Annamaria Bianco 1Saumitra Deb Saumitra Deb 2Daniela Scuticchio Daniela Scuticchio 1Shaniko Kaleci Shaniko Kaleci 3Maria Luisa Scattoni Maria Luisa Scattoni 4
  • 1 CREA (Research and Clinical Centre), San Sebastiano Foundation, Firenze, Italy
  • 2 Imperial College London, London, England, United Kingdom
  • 3 Department of Medical and Surgical, Maternal-Infantile and Adult Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
  • 4 National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Lazio, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Despite increasing evidence of high psychopathological vulnerability in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Intellectual disability (ID), comprehensive data on prevalence and presentation of psychiatric disorders (PD) in people with significant cognitive and communication impairment are lacking. The extent to which PD can present with behavioural/observable symptoms and include Problem Behaviours (PB) has also been scarcely evaluated through population-based studies. The paper presents the protocol of a cross-sectional study aimed at filling these gaps, referred to a large multicentric Italian population-based sample of adolescents and adults.A battery of validated scales, SPAIDD, DASH-II, DiBAS-R, and STA-DI, is used to support and control for clinical diagnoses of PD. Study population is stratified according to different independent variables such as the severity of ID and ASD, gender, age group, and source of recruitment. A network analysis will be carried out to identify the most central behavioural symptoms for the various PD and their relationship with PB. Overlap between psychiatric symptoms and ASD and ID phenotypes is also addressed.This study should provide valuable insight into better diagnostic accuracy, leading to well-informed interventions to improve the quality of life of people with ASD and/or ID.

    Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities, Psychopathology, psychiatric disorders, Prevalence

    Received: 11 Jun 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Bertelli, Bianco, Deb, Scuticchio, Kaleci and Scattoni. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Marco O. Bertelli, CREA (Research and Clinical Centre), San Sebastiano Foundation, Firenze, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.