Children with autistic traits are more likely than their peers to develop an eating disorder during adolescence, according to a new UK longitudinal study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
The researchers investigated trajectories of autistic social traits across childhood and adolescence in a cohort with and without disordered eating behaviours in early adolescence using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
They considered whether the subjects had autistic social traits at ages seven years, 11 years, 14 years and 16 years and disordered eating (fasting, purging, prolonged dieting or binge-eating) at age 14 years.
Autistic social traits were reported by the subjects' mothers using the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) at ages seven years, 11 years, 14 years and 16 years.
Of the 5381 adolescents sampled, 421 (7.8%) experienced one or more disordered eating behaviours and 148 (2.8%) weekly episodes.
Adolescents with disordered eating had a 20 per cent increase in SCDC scores (relative risk [RR], 1.23; 95% CI, 1.14-1.32) compared with those without disordered eating. This association was particularly apparent for those reporting weekly (RR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.27-1.61) as opposed to monthly disordered eating (RR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.01-1.22).
Gender-wise, 11.2 per cent of girls reported at least one disordered eating behaviour within the previous year (7.3% experienced them monthly and 3.9% weekly) compared with 3.6 per cent of boys (2.3% monthly and 1.3% weekly).
Adolescents with eating disorders showed higher levels of autistic traits by age seven years, suggesting the autistic traits predated the disordered eating (as eating disorders are very rare at age seven years), and therefore might pose a risk factor for eating disorders.
Children who displayed higher autistic traits at age seven years were 24 per cent more likely to have weekly disordered eating behaviours at age 14 years. Further analysis confirmed that eating disorders at age 14 years did not appear to increase autistic traits by age 16 years.
