Autistic symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms among Chinese college students: A longitudinal study

Abstract

BackgroundThere was a high degree of co-occurrence between autistic symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms, but their longitudinal associations have not been adequately studied. MethodThree hundred and ninety-seven Chinese college students (68.51% female; 21.43 ± 2.22 years) from mainland China were assessed via self-reported questionnaires multiple times over the course of a year. A developmental cascade model was used to investigate the longitudinal linkages among autistic symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms. ResultsResults indicated that (1) autistic symptoms at each time point reliably predicted depressive symptoms at the next time point, whereas only depressive symptoms at Time 1 predicted autistic symptoms at Time 2; (2) social anxiety symptoms did not predict subsequent depressive symptoms significantly, whereas depressive symptoms at Time 1 predicted social anxiety symptoms at Time 2; (3) the relationship between autistic symptoms and social anxiety symptoms showed a spiral pattern, i.e., social anxiety symptoms of Time 1 predicted autistic symptoms at Time 2, which in turn predicted social anxiety symptoms at Time 3; and (4) social anxiety symptoms at Time 1 predicted depressive symptoms at Time 3 indirectly through autistic symptoms at Time 2. ConclusionsThese results clarify the longitudinal predictive relationship between autistic symptoms and two typical emotional symptoms, suggesting in practice that we should adopt intervention strategies targeting emotional symptoms combined with social skills for college students with high autism symptoms and individuals with autism spectrum disorders.