Brief Report: Screening Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder for Anxiety and Depression

Although depression and anxiety are the most common comorbidities in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), descriptive data for their prevalence among autistic adults are limited. This study provides descriptive data for a cohort of 155 autistic adults (mean age = 27.1 years, SD = 11.9) of average IQ on the short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and the Mini Social Phobia Inventory. Also included were 79 non-ASD participants (mean age = 26.2, SD = 10.2) who completed the mini-SPIN. A substantial percentage (39–46%) of autistic adults scored within the ‘Moderate’ to ‘Extremely Severe’ range on the DASS-21. The DASS-21 would be a valuable rapid screening device for these comorbid conditions in autistic adults.