The Moderating Effect of Autism Symptomatology on Anxiety Symptoms

Anxiety disorders are prevalent in the general population and the prevalence of anxiety disorders for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is even higher. Researchers have shown how cognitive and adaptive functioning are related and affect anxiety symptoms in children as well as the high comorbidity with ASD. The aim of this study was to confirm those relationships and to examine the moderating effect of autism symptomatology in infants and toddlers. A sample of 2,366 infants and toddlers between the ages of 17 and 36 months of age was examined using a hierarchical moderation analysis. Post-hoc analyses were then completed to determine the source of any interaction. The relationship between autism symptomatology and anxiety was confirmed as was the relationship between Cognitive Developmental Quotient (DQ) and anxiety; adaptive DQ was found to be positively correlated with anxiety. The moderating effect of autism symptomatology between DQs individually and anxiety was statistically significant but with a small effect size. Autism symptomatology also moderated the relationship between Cognitive and Adaptive DQ with anxiety but with a negligible effect size.