Does my child have a higher risk of developing mental health difficulties because they are neurodivergent?

There has been quite a lot of research studies carried out to examine if autistic young people are at higher risk of developing anxiety and / or depression. We examined this question in relation to depression in a systematic review.  This is basically where we bring all research studies on a topic together and look at their findings overall. This review showed that depression risk for autistic people is around 50% – that’s 1 in 2 people, so it is very common.

This review also found that depression symptoms often start in childhood in autistic people which is different from those who are neurotypical where we see a peak in the late teenage years. This means that all of the adults in an autistic child’s life need to be mindful that they may show depression symptoms and while still a child.

Wider research has shown that this link between mental health and being neurodivergent is not just specific to autism. Research studies have shown that ADHD and DCD/Dyspraxia are also associated with a greater risk of developing mental health difficulties.

In a recent study we published we showed that there was a relationship between executive functions (thinking skills like memory, attention flexibility) and depression symptoms in those with ADHD and DCD. This study suggests an important way to support neurodivergent children’s mental health. If we can understand any executive function difficulties neurodivergent people may have and support them with these, then we will be likely helping their mental health as well. Our free booklets have lots of ideas about how to better understand and support neurodivergent children’s executive functions.

There are also lots of research studies that have looked at anxiety and neurodivergent conditions. These studies show similar findings of higher risk of developing anxiety across these neurodivergent conditions during childhood.

We have a webinar on this topic specific to autism on Tuesday 24^th September at 7pm. Professor Jacqui Rodgers will deliver a webinar on ‘Causes, experiences and strategies to reduce anxiety in autistic children’ followed by a Q&A.  This webinar will be accessible live and recorded within our parent subscriber platform. If you haven’t already subscribed to our platform, you can join here: https://epicthinklearn.com/parents-join-epic/