Trastornos del espectro autista en personas con (relativo) alto nivel de funcionamiento: diferenciación funcional mediante análisis multivariado

In this work the profiles of psychological functioning were studied within a group of 30 (relative) high-functioning children and adolescents, diagnosed of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) and other psychopathological severe disorders in childhood. Carrying out multivariate analysis (discriminant analysis) of the behavioural, cognitive and communicative characteristics of this group (extracted from the review of the clinical stories and from interviews to their parents and to the subjects themselves), we obtained three different patterns of psychological functioning, which discriminate the subjects better than the categories of the DSM-IV-R. Clinical topics are discussed on the diagnostic classification of these groups of subjects, as well as the lack of correspondence between groups derived from clinical versus functional criteria.ResumenEn este trabajo se estudiaron los perfiles de funcionamiento psicológico de un grupo de 30 niños y adolescentes de relato alto nivel de funcionamiento psicológico, diagnosticados de autismo/TGD y otros trastornos psicopatológicos de inicio de la infancia. A través de análisis multivariados (análisis discriminante) de las características conductuales, cognitivas y comunicativas de este grupo (extraídas de la revisión de las historias clínicas y entrevistas a los padres y a los propios sujetos), se encontraron tres patrones de funcionamiento psicológico que discriminaban a los sujetos mejor que las categorías establecidas en le sistema oficial DSM-IV-R. En la discusión, se abordan los problemas de la clasificación diagnóstica de este tipo de sujetos, así como la escasa correspondencia existente entre las agrupaciones basadas en criterios clínicos y funcionales.AbstractIn this work the profiles of psychological functioning were studied within a group of 30 (relative) high-functioning children and adolescents, diagnosed of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) and other psychopathological severe disorders in childhood. Carrying out multivariate analysis (discriminant analysis) of the behavioural, cognitive and communicative characteristics of this group (extracted from the review of the clinical stories and from interviews to their parents and to the subjects themselves), we obtained three different patterns of psychological functioning, which discriminate the subjects better than the categories of the DSM-IV-R. Clinical topics are discussed on the diagnostic classification of these groups of subjects, as well as the lack of correspondence between groups derived from clinical versus functional criteria