The Relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder Tendency or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Tendency and Social Anxiety in Adult Patients with Stuttering

Abstract

We investigated the tendencies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 61 adult patients with stuttering who visited a medical institution, and examined the relationship with social anxiety. At the first visit, Autism Spectrum Quantitative Japanese Version (AQ-J), The Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS), and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scales Japanese Version (LSAS-J) were performed. Next, LSAS-J scores were compared before and after the cut-off values of the AQ-J total scores and CAARS T scores. Of 61 cases, 5 cases (7.8%) had an ASD tendency and 7 cases (11.5%) had an ADHD tendency. The group with ASD or ADHD tendencies had significantly higher social anxiety than the group without these tendencies. Therefore, when dealing with social anxiety in adult patients with stuttering, our results suggested that it is important to evaluate not only stuttering but also ASD tendency and ADHD tendency.