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. 2018 Dec;48(12):4167-4178.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3645-3.

Presentation and Correlates of Hoarding Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Comorbid Anxiety or Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms

Valérie La Buissonnière-Ariza  1 , Jeffrey J Wood  2 , Philip C Kendall  3 , Nicole M McBride  4 , Sandra L Cepeda  1 , Brent J Small  5 , Adam B Lewin  6 , Connor Kerns  7 , Eric A Storch  8   9
Affiliations

Presentation and Correlates of Hoarding Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Comorbid Anxiety or Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms

Valérie La Buissonnière-Ariza et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Dec.

Abstract

We investigated the presentation and correlates of hoarding behaviors in 204 children aged 7-13 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and comorbid anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. Approximately 34% of the sample presented at least moderate levels, and with 7% presenting severe to extreme levels of hoarding. Child gender predicted hoarding severity. In addition, child ASD-related social difficulties together with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder symptom severity positively predicted hoarding controlling for child gender and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Finally, child anxiety/OCD symptoms positively predicted hoarding, controlling for all other factors. These results suggest hoarding behaviors may constitute a common feature of pediatric ASD with comorbid anxiety/OCD, particularly in girls and children with greater social difficulties and comorbid psychiatric symptom severity.

Keywords: ASD; Anxiety; Autism; Hoarding; OCD; Pediatric; Prevalence.

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