The Association of Autistic Traits and Psychosis Proneness in Chinese Early Adults: The Twins Scan China Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Autism and Psychotic Disorder are both spectrum disorders that include a range of symptom severity from mild to severe. Studying the sub-clinical or prodromal symptoms can help the conceptualization and distinction of the two disorders. The current study aims to replicate Hurst et al. (2007) in studying the relationship between psychotic experiences or symptoms and autistic traits in a non-clinical Chinese adolescent sample. It was hypothesized that 1) when the domains of autistic traits and psychotic traits are compared, positive correlation will be observed. Specifically, we predicted a stronger association between communication and social skills, two of the main features of autism, and psychosis proneness, and 2) autistic traits would predict psychosis proneness. METHODS: The study included 148 Chinese healthy participants aged 15-21. Self-report questionnaires of autistic traits and psychotic experiences and symptoms, including Autism Spectrum Quotients (AQ), Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R), were administered. RESULTS: Consistent with expectations, the autistic traits and psychosis proneness were positively correlated. When the domains were examined one by one, social functioning impairment of AQ and negative symptoms measured by CAPE were found to be most strongly correlated. Results were consistent with the literature that autistic traits and psychotic traits overlap mainly on the impaired social-interpersonal areas and communication problems aspects. Further, autistics traits were found to have a predictive effect to psychotic experiences, although further longitudinal research should be done on this specific relationship. DISCUSSION: Symptoms on interpersonal sensitivity may mediate an increased risk of having psychosis proneness in early adults with large number of autistic traits. Future research should continue to investigate the overlap and distinction between autistic traits and psychosis proneness, to provide better conceptualization and distinction between the two disorders. Overall, the findings contribute to the emerging research on relationship between autism and psychosis in a Chinese non-clinical population. This supports further research into this area.