Autistic Traits and Probability of Suicide in Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder: A Comparison with Psychiatrically Healthy Controls

Behav Med. 2026 Sep 10:1-11. doi: 10.1080/08964289.2026.2723834. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to compare the autistic traits and probability of suicide in adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) aged 12-17 years with psychiatrically healthy controls. The study was conducted with a total of 128 adolescents, including 64 patients with MDD and 64 psychiatrically healthy controls, recruited from an outpatient child and adolescent psychiatry clinic in Turkey. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) was administered to all subjects. Additionally, sociodemographic data were collected from each participant. The Suicide Probability Scale (SPS) and the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) were completed by the participants, while parents filled out the Autism Spectrum Quotient-Adolescent (AQ-Adolescent) for their children. In the MDD group, the total scores of CDI, SPS, and AQ-Adolescent were found to be statistically significantly higher compared to the psychiatrically healthy controls. Additionally, a significant positive correlation was observed between the total CDI score and both the total SPS and the AQ-Adolescent scores in the MDD group. The log-transformed CDI total score, after controlling for age and gender, was found to be significantly higher in adolescents with MDD who had elevated autistic traits than in those who did not have elevated autistic traits. Our study’s findings indicate that in comparison to controls, adolescents with MDD have a higher probability of suicide and autistic traits. Furthermore, adolescents with MDD and elevated autistic traits had significantly greater depressive symptom severity than those without elevated autistic traits.

PMID:42722619 | DOI:10.1080/08964289.2026.2723834