Caregivers answered surveys regarding the children they care for
From the 2016 National Survey of Children s Health, the research team took a survey of over 42,000 caregivers who have a total of 1,131 ASD-diagnosed children they take care of. The children with autism reportedly have different mental health conditions based on the caregivers.
Nearly 40 percent of them suffer from anxiety, 15.7 percent have depression, and 60.8 percent have behavior or conduct problems. Almost two percent have Tourette syndrome, and 48.4 percent have ADHD.
As the children with autism grew older, the research team found that their subjects suffer from mental health conditions more. They noted the significance of the 44.8 percent prevalence in preschool children with ASD because they believe that early intervention could increase mental health treatment s effectiveness.