Anxiety Self-Report in Autistic Adolescents With Intellectual Disability: Predictors of Parent-Youth Agreement.
Autistic teens with ID can reliably self-report anxiety when verbal and adaptive abilities are sufficient, and accommodating parents yield closer agreement on physical anxiety symptoms.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Garrison et al. (2025) asked autistic teens with intellectual disability to fill out an anxiety self-report form. They also asked parents to rate the same teens' anxiety. The team wanted to know which teens could finish the form and when parent and teen answers matched.
They looked at verbal skills, daily living skills, and how much parents change routines for the teen. All teens had both autism and ID and were between 11 and 18 years old.
What they found
Teens with stronger verbal and daily living skills were more likely to finish the form. When parents reported high levels of accommodation at home, parent and teen answers lined up best on physical anxiety signs like stomach aches or racing heart.
The study found positive results overall. Self-report is possible for this group when the right supports are in place.
How this fits with other research
Schiltz et al. (2017) showed that higher-functioning autistic youth give stable anxiety scores over time. Elizabeth's work extends this downward: even teens with ID can self-report if their verbal and adaptive skills are strong enough.
Gaylord-Ross et al. (1995) first proved that teens with ID can validly self-report depression. Elizabeth now shows the same is true for anxiety in autistic teens with ID, again linking success to adaptive behavior level.
Doughty et al. (2015) found that higher IQ autistic youth show stronger links between poor social skills and caregiver-reported anxiety. Elizabeth flips the lens: among teens with ID, stronger adaptive skills predict successful self-report, not just caregiver report.
Why it matters
You can now give an anxiety self-report to autistic teens with ID if their verbal and daily living skills are at least in the mild range. Watch for teens whose parents bend over backwards to avoid stress; these pairs give the most matching answers on body-based anxiety signs. Use the data to double-check your own observations and to teach self-advocacy: teens learn to say 'my stomach hurts when I worry' before the feeling explodes into problem behavior.
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Join Free →Try the short MASC self-report page with one teen who has mild ID and good verbal skills; note if they can finish it and compare their physical anxiety items with parent report.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The use of self-report to assess anxiety in adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) is notably underexplored. This study examined the impact of youth-level factors (i.e., age, verbal and cognitive ability, adaptive skills) on anxiety self-report completion and parent-youth agreement among 72 autistic adolescents with ID. We also examined if parent accommodation behaviors, such as reassurance or routine modification, served as predictors of parent-youth agreement of anxiety. Results showed that 83% of adolescents completed the self-report measure, with verbal, cognitive, and adaptive ability predicting completion. Parental accommodation predicted parent-youth agreement on physical anxiety symptoms, but not global anxiety symptoms. Youth-level factors did not significantly predict agreement. Results highlight the need for expanded assessment approaches for assessing anxiety in youth with ID.
American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1352/1944-7558-130.4.323