{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T13:05:38Z","timestamp":1791551138425,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788480000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009187","name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MRF-CPP-R2-23-102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MRF-CPP-R2-23-102"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009187","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["MRF-CPP-R2-23-102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MRF-CPP-R2-23-102"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0187kwz08","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"One King\u2019s Impact Fund"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00jb20j87","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100014013","name":"UK Research and Innovation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["MR\/X03058X\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MR\/X03058X\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100014013","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["MR\/X03058X\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MR\/X03058X\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/001aqnf71","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Autistic traits are overrepresented among individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and are associated with greater eating disorder (ED) psychopathology, psychological distress, and work and social functioning difficulties in this population. However, less is known about the prevalence and clinical associations of autistic traits in other ED presentations, such as bulimia nervosa (BN). This study examined the prevalence of autistic traits and their associations with ED psychopathology, psychological distress, and work and social functioning difficulties in a transdiagnostic ED sample. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted using routinely collected clinical data of adults attending a specialist ED service with restrictive AN (AN-R), binge\u2013purge AN (AN-BP), BN, binge eating disorder (BED), atypical AN (A-AN), or avoidant\/restrictive food-intake disorder (ARFID). Prevalence rates of elevated autistic traits (AQ-10 \u22656) were described across diagnoses. Multiple linear-regression analyses examined associations between autistic traits and measures of eating disorder psychopathology, psychological distress, and work and social functioning difficulties. Results: Elevated autistic traits were reported by 40.0% of patients with ARFID, 34.2% with AN-BP, 31.9% with AN-R, 27.0% with BN, 26.4% with A-AN, and 16.7% with BED. Higher AQ-10 scores were significantly associated with greater ED psychopathology, psychological distress, and work and social functioning difficulties across the AN-R, BN, and full samples. In the AN-R and full samples, the associations remained significant across all models after controlling for age, gender, and ED duration. In the BN sample, all associations remained significant following adjustment except for ED psychopathology, which was no longer significant after controlling for ED duration. Conclusions: Autistic traits are elevated across multiple ED diagnoses and are associated with greater clinical severity. The findings support the clinical relevance of autistic traits across ED presentations and support the need for further investigation of autism-informed approaches across transdiagnostic ED services.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18172906","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T13:50:44Z","timestamp":1788529844000},"page":"2906","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Prevalence and Clinical Correlates of Autistic Traits Across Eating Disorder Diagnoses: A Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Service Data"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-6352-1297","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adia","family":"Meyer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Eating Disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London SE5 8AZ, UK"},{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-5021-1350","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lauren","family":"Makin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK"},{"name":"National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King\u2019s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2896-6459","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karina","family":"Allen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Eating Disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London SE5 8AZ, UK"},{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8988-3265","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kate","family":"Tchanturia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Eating Disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London SE5 8AZ, UK"},{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK"},{"name":"Department of Culture and Communication, Aalborg University, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1005653411471","article-title":"The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger syndrome\/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians","volume":"31","author":"Wheelwright","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. 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