Study Finds Undiagnosed Autistic Traits Common Among Youths with Substance Abuse Disorders

7th February, 2022

11 February 2022, News of the Week, Newsletter, OT

[Source: Science Daily]

One in five teens and young adults who seek treatment for alcohol or drug use may have traits characteristic of a previously unrecognized autism spectrum disorder (ASD), researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report.

They found that among patients with an average age of 18.7 years being treated in an outpatient substance use disorder (SUD) clinic, 20% had elevated scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2), a parent- or teacher-reported measure that has been shown to reliably identify the presence and severity of social impairment among individuals along the autism spectrum, and to distinguish autism from other disorders.

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