Current functioning of young adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in childhood and depression and burnout among their parents in Türkiye

We aimed to evaluate the current functioning of young Turkish adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosed in childhood and determine parental depression and burnout levels. Factors associated with current functioning and parental depression were also evaluated. This study was conducted at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of 61 cities in Turkey.

Young adults with ASD and their parents were enrolled. 1500 participants (81.5%, n = 1222 males) with a median age of 21.0 (IQR = 4.0) years were included in the present study. Most participants were high school graduates, and only 1 in 10 was able to work for some time at a job. 8.3%could travel alone between cities, 3.7% had experience of romantic relationships, and only sixty-one of them were able to obtain a driving license and use motor vehicles. The mean depression and overall burnout scores of mothers were significantly higher than those of fathers.

Young adults with ASD and their parents may experience elevated stress during the transition to adult services. Therefore, there is an urgent need for further studies to identify these needs. Meryem Özlem Kütük and Ali Evren Tufan contributed equally to this work.

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, Adana Dr. Turgut Noyan Medical and Research Center, Adana, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Faculty of Medicine, Bolu, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Harran University Faculty of Medicine, Sanliurfa, Turkey Fethiye Kılıçaslan, Ceylan Carık & Bahaddin Çolak Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Balıkesir Ataturk City Hospital, Balıkesir, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Health Sciences Dr. Behçet Uz Child Disease and Pediatric Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey Nagihan Cevher Binici, Fatma Sibel Durak, Yadigar Düğüncü Terlemez, Canem Kavurma, Enes Şamdan, Mehrişah Usta & Aylin Yılmaz Department of Psychology, Istanbul Esenyurt University, Istanbul, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey Oğuzhan Koyuncu, Alperen Bıkmazer & Vahdet Görmez Department of Psychiatry, Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey Rabia Can, Müjdat Erarkadaş, Burcu Kardaş, Ömer Kardaş, İrem Damla Çimen & Özlem Yıldız Gündoğdu Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bursa Uludag University Faculty of Medicine, Bursa, Turkey Caner Mutlu, Şafak Eray Çamlı & Serkan Turan Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bursa Dörtçelik Pediatric Hospital, Bursa, Turkey Ferhat Yaylacı, Barış Güller & Didem Ayyıldız Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Fatih Sultan Mehmet University Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey Perihan Çam Ray, Burak Kamış, Rezan Karabulut Kılıç, Gonca Gül Çelik & Ayşegül Yolga Tahiroğlu Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey Department of Psychology, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey Sevay Alşen Güney, Neslihan İnal, Özüm Sueda Tasak & Hüseyin Burak Baykara Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, Toros State Hospital, Mersin, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Kartal Dr.

Lutfi Kirdar City Hospital, University of Health Science, Istanbul, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Faculty of Medicine, Manisa, Turkey Hasan Kandemir, Şermin Yalın Sapmaz & Öznur Bilaç Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Aydın Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Medicine, Aydın, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Biruni University of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Van Training and Research Hospital, Van, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Koc University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey Tuba Mutluer, Eren Yavuz Açıkalın & Zeynep Seda Albayrak Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, Edirne, Turkey Leyla Bozatlı, Hasan Cem Aykutlu & Işık Görker Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey