Adding to the complications of autism, overweight and obese children with the disorder are prone to a host of other troubles, including depression, anxiety and sleep problems, reports a study published 2 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Teenagers with autism or other psychiatric disorders are far less likely to exercise or play team sports than their typical peers, reports a Norwegian study published 22 January.

The more traits of autism an individual has, the more sensory problems he or she reports, according to a study in the general population published 5 December in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Taking antidepressants while pregnant doesn’t boost the risk of autism in the child, according to the largest study yet to search for a link, published 15 November in Clinical Epidemiology. However, the subgroup analyses that question the connection are based on numbers too small to draw a firm conclusion, experts say. 
 

Anxiety runs in families with a history of autism, hinting that the two conditions may share a common origin, suggests a twin study published in November.

It’s common for children with autism to take more than one medication to improve symptoms, despite the dearth of information about the drugs’ long-term safety, according to two new studies.

Two new studies examine disruptive behavior and loneliness among adults with autism, generally a poorly studied group. 

Clinicians should place children under age 5 who have developmental delay into a broad diagnostic category, called ESSENCE, which may then resolve into any number of individual diagnoses over time, says Christopher Gillberg. 

Two contradictory studies prompt questions about the reliability of self-report questionnaires in autism.

Age-based cutoff scores for BISCUIT, an early diagnostic tool for children with autism traits, help clinicians accurately identify children who also have other disorders, says Johnny Matson.