Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Hypothalamus–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis Daily Fluctuation, Anxiety And Age Interact To Predict Cortisol Concentrations In Boys With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Nicholas Andronicos, Linda Agnew

Vicki Bitsika

There is considerable evidence of a confound between symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children who have an ASD. Although there have been several attempts to describe how these two disorders overlap and interact to influence the assessment and diagnosis of children with an ASD, principally by reference to cortisol assayed from these children's saliva, the overall evidence is inconsistent. Because previous models of these relationships have focused upon cortisol and GAD to the exclusion of age, diurnal fluctuation in the HPA axis and the source of GAD data, these variables were examined in …