{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T15:25:28Z","timestamp":1789831528827,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,18]],"date-time":"2025-11-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763424000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["NeuroSci"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex and heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition. Diagnosing ASD in adults, especially in milder forms, remains challenging due to camouflaging strategies, adaptive behaviors, and frequent psychiatric comorbidities. Despite increased awareness, there is a critical need to improve recognition and tailored interventions for adults with ASD. This study aims to examine the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities among individuals diagnosed with ASD. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study examined 64 adults diagnosed with ASD (n = 29 females, 45.3%; age: range, 18\u201357 years; mean \u00b1 SD, 30.9 \u00b1 8.92), who accessed two university hospital outpatient units in Rome between September 2023 and January 2025. All participants were assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition\u2013Module 4 (ADOS-2). Psychiatric comorbidities were evaluated using clinical assessments and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) Plus. Results: All patients received an ASD diagnosis without intellectual disability. Forty-four (68.8%) presented with at least one psychiatric comorbidity, most commonly depressive (25.0%) and anxiety disorders (9.4%). Over half of the participants (57.4%) reported at least mild depressive symptoms, and 42.6% exhibited moderate to severe depressive levels. Conclusions: High rates of psychiatric comorbidities, particularly mood and anxiety disorders, were observed, underscoring the importance of comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment and individualized interventions. Further research using larger samples and rigorous methodologies is warranted to better characterize the ASD phenotype in adults and guide targeted therapeutic strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/neurosci6040117","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,18]],"date-time":"2025-11-18T09:58:42Z","timestamp":1763459922000},"page":"117","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Autism in Adulthood: Psychiatric Comorbidity in High-Functioning Autistic Adults in an Outpatient Clinical Population"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-8835-172X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martina","family":"Pelle","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Neurology, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Psychiatry, Department of Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University, 00128 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, 00128 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2970-8419","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Federico","family":"Fiori Nastro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Maimone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefano","family":"Malara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Neurology, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Psychiatry, Department of Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University, 00128 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Di Lazzaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Neurology, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Psychiatry, Department of Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University, 00128 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, 00128 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0576-4064","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giorgio","family":"Di Lorenzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michele","family":"Ribolsi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Science, Health and Health Professions, Link Campus University, 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"508","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(18)31129-2","article-title":"Autism spectrum disorder","volume":"392","author":"Lord","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"American Psychiatric Association (2013). 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