Youth and Caregivers' Perspective on Teens Engaged as Mentors (TEAM): An Inclusive Peer Mentoring Program for Autistic Adolescents.
Anxiety plus ADHD makes social life harder for autistic teens—screen first, then tailor supports.
01Research in Context
What this study did
O'Hagan et al. (2023) asked autistic teens and their caregivers about a peer-mentoring program called TEAM.
They also scored each teen on the Social Responsiveness Scale and noted who had anxiety or ADHD on top of autism.
The design was simple: measure once, compare groups with and without added diagnoses.
What they found
Teens who carried both autism and anxiety scored worse on social responsiveness than those with autism alone.
If ADHD was in the mix too, the scores were even higher, meaning more social difficulty.
The mentoring program itself is not the focus here; the signal is that extra diagnoses stack the deck against social success.
How this fits with other research
McIntyre et al. (2017) saw the same pattern years earlier: anxiety and ADHD each make different parts of the SRS-2 look worse in autistic kids.
Rosello et al. (2022) reviewed dozens of studies and reached the same conclusion, so the new teen data line up with past work.
Byiers et al. (2025) flip the script: when they taught social skills during adapted CBT, anxiety went down.
Together these papers say: extra diagnoses hurt social skills, but boosting social skills can turn around anxiety.
Why it matters
Before you run a social-skills group, check for anxiety and ADHD. If they are present, plan smaller steps, add emotion-regulation cues, or pair the teen with a calm peer mentor. Screening first prevents the "brick wall of awkward" Bottema-Beutel et al. (2016) warned about and gives the teen a real chance to win friends.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Social difficulties inherent to autism spectrum disorder are often linked with co-occurring symptoms of anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present study sought to examine the relation between such co-occurring symptoms and social challenges. Parents of adolescents with autism (N = 113) reported upon social challenges via the social responsiveness scale (SRS) and anxiety and ADHD symptomatology via the Child Behavior Checklist. Results revealed differences in SRS scores across co-occurring symptom subgroups (Anxiety, ADHD, Both, Neither)-namely, adolescents with autism and anxiety as well as those with autism, anxiety, and ADHD showed greater scores on the SRS than the other groups. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed and recommendations are offered. Autism Research 2018, 11: 1679-1689. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are related to greater social challenges for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. The present study found that autism with anxiety and autism with anxiety and ADHD, was related to greater social difficulties than autism alone. Findings provide further support for the intertwined nature of anxiety and ADHD symptoms in autism. What this may mean for research and clinical practice is considered and recommendations are suggested.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2023 · doi:10.1007/s10803-009-0713-8