Mood Disorders in Mothers of Children on the Autism Spectrum Are Associated with Higher Functioning Autism

Table 2

Self-reported clinical characteristics of mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder and reported professional diagnosis of mood disorders (n = 489).

	Bipolar disorder	Depression	Fisher’s exact/paired t-test P value
	n = 74	n = 415
Type of professional establishing diagnosis
Psychiatrist	51 (68.9)	94 (22.7)	<.001
Psychologist	16 (21.6)	67 (16.1)
Nonpsychiatrist physician	6 (8.1)	219 (52.8)
Therapist	1 (1.4)	35 (8.4)
Severity of mood disorder (%)
Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization	27 (37.0)	53 (12.9)	<.001
Considered/attempted suicide	53 (71.6)	232 (56.2)	<.05
3 or more depressive episodes	69 (95.8)	328 (80.2)	<.01
Onset of mood disorder before having children (%)	63 (86.3)	266 (64.3)	<.001