Health-related risky behaviors in adolescents with high functioning autism / 中国实用儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of health-related risky behaviors in adolescents with High Functioning Autism(HFA). METHODS: Fifty adolescents aged 12-18 years,IQ≥70 and meeting the criteria of autistic disorder in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fourth Edition(DSM-Ⅳ),and 50 age-and gendermatched healthy controls were recruited. The health-related risky behaviors of all subjects were assessed with the Adolescents Health-related Risky Behavior Inventory(AHRBI). The parents of autistic subjects completed the Adolescents Health-related Risky Behavior Inventory for Parent(AHRBI-P). RESULTS: HFA group had higher total scale score and four subscales' scores of AHRBI than controls,including Suicide and Self-Injury(SS),HealthCompromising Behavior(HCB),Aggression and Violence(AV)and Rule Breaking(RB)(all P<0.05). HFA group had higher scores than controls in the items of "Bullying/Threatening/Intimidating partner", "Deliberately pushing and shoving others", "Not drinking milk/soy milk", "Not participating in any form of physical activity", "Skiping class/Playing truant", "Running away from home", "Biting/Scratching/Bumping to hurt oneself"(all P<0.05). Among all the subscales and items,the scores of HCB,SS, "Not drinking milk/soy milk", "Physical discomfort due to dieting", "Fighting and Arms-taking" and "Drinking" of self-assessment in HFA group were higher than those of parents' assessment(all P<0.05]. CONCLUSION: The adolescents with HFA have more health-related risky behaviors than the healthy adolescents except for Smoking and Drinking(SD)and Unprotected sex(US).