Investigation of Individual Factors Associated with Anxiety in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The team looked at 2,662 kids with autism. They asked parents to rate anxiety levels.

They checked age, social skills, and IQ scores. Then they ran stats to see what matched high anxiety.

Older kids with better IQ scores showed the strongest link between poor social skills and high anxiety.

In plain words: smart teens who struggle socially are the ones parents worry about most.

Magiati et al. (2016) found the opposite pattern in special-school students. Repetitive behaviors, not social skills, predicted anxiety. The kids in that study had lower IQs and went to separate schools. Setting and ability level change the risk picture.

Garrison et al. (2025) show that teens with intellectual disability can self-report anxiety when they have enough verbal skills. Doughty et al. (2015) used only parent report, so together the papers tell us: match the assessment method to the teen's ability.

Deserno et al. (2017) followed adults and found the IQ-adaptive gap stays wide and brings more psychiatric trouble. The youth pattern in Doughty et al. (2015) seems to be an early sign of that lifelong gap.

If you work with bright autistic teens, do not assume good grades mean low risk. Add a quick social-skills probe to your anxiety screen. When social errors pop up, plan extra practice and teach coping statements. For students with lower IQ, shift focus to repetitive behaviors and daily living skills instead. Pick self-report or caregiver report based on the teen's verbal level, not age alone.