DOI work
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Gloria T. Han, Shashwat Kala, Adam Naples, Geraldine Dawson, Susan Faja, Frederick Shic, Sara Jane Webb, Catherine A. Sugar, et al.
(2026).
Conceptualizing Autism as a Behavioral Network: Transdiagnostic Associations with Co-occurring Psychiatric Conditions.
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 54(2), 46.
Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
- Publication date
-
14 Mar 2026
- Identifier
-
10.1007/s10802-026-01421-6
- Authors
-
Gloria T. Han,
Shashwat Kala,
Adam Naples,
Geraldine Dawson,
Susan Faja,
Frederick Shic,
Sara Jane Webb,
Catherine A. Sugar,
Shafali Jeste,
Natalia Kleinhans,
Katarzyna Chawarska,
Raphael Bernier,
James Dziura,
James C. McPartland,
Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials
- Source
- Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology
- Details
- 54(2), 46
- Reference type
- article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Metadata source
- crossref
Abstract
Abstract Autism is characterized by marked heterogeneity in behavioral presentation and high rates of co-occurring psychiatric symptoms, which hinder diagnostic precision, personalized intervention, and long-term quality of life. Approach and withdrawal behaviors—subserved by core motivational systems underlying action and emotion—may serve as transdiagnostic processes linking autism with common co-occurring conditions in childhood. Guided by this framework, we examined how autism-related approach–withdrawal behaviors interrelate and connect to internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Using data from 280 autistic children aged 6 to 11 years enrolled in the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials, we constructed a Gaussian graphical model of approach–withdrawal behaviors. Core behaviors were identified using expected influence centrality. Autism, when conceptualized as a system of interconnected approach–withdrawal behaviors, was positively associated with common co-occurring psychiatric conditions, with strongest associations observed for anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Affect regulation–related nodes were most relevant to internalizing symptoms, whereas arousal regulation and sensory nodes were uniquely related to externalizing symptoms. These findings integrate transdiagnostic theories of approach-withdrawal motivation with network analysis and highlight clinically relevant targets for diagnostic refinement and intervention.
Study authors in this cited reference