The Moderating Effects of Comorbid Anxiety Disorder and Problem Behaviors in Infants with ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are often accompanied by an array of behavior problems such as self-injurious behavior (SIB), aggression, and stereotypic behavior (Matson et al., 2011). Recent estimates of prevalence rates of comorbid psychiatric disorders in ASD have ranged between approximately 70% to 84% (Gjevik, Eldevik, Fjaeran-Granum, & Sponheim, 2011; Simonoff et al., 2008). Many studies have shown associations between the presence of comorbid psychopathology and challenging behaviors in children with ASD (Matson et al., 2011). Of the psychiatric disorders, anxiety disorder is the most commonly found among children (Simonoff et al., 2008). Research suggests comorbid psychiatric disorders may be contributing factors in the wide variability of behaviors seen in individuals with ASD. The majority of studies that examined comorbid psychopathology and problem behavior have focused on adults, adolescents, and older children with ASD.;Regression analyses were run on six models to test the moderation effect of anxiety on the relationship between Autism diagnosis severity and challenging behavior (SIB and aggression). Model fit statistics were significant for all six models. The model 3 accounted for the most variance in SIB (7%) and model 6 accounted for the most variance in aggression (38%). While none of the interaction terms in the model were found to be significant, anxiety and avoidance were consistently significant predictors of both SIB and aggression in all 6 models. Cronbach's alpha was also used to test the internal reliability of the BISCUIT and each subscale as well as the whole measure had high levels of internal reliability (alpha values between .724 and .967).