Title

Co-morbid psychopathology in adults with autism and intellectual disabilities: A review of the evidence base

Abstract 

Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often present with co-morbid conditions such as Intellectual Disability (ID) and mental health problems and the interaction between these clinical conditions is complex. Prevalence studies are inconclusive as to whether the addition of ASD to ID makes patients more vulnerable to co-morbid psychopathology. This presentation will critically review the evidence base for different rates of co-morbid psychopathology in adults with ID and ASD, discuss methodological issues, diagnostic problems and highlight risk factors based on recent findings from our research in London. 

Speaker: Elias Tsakanikos, Ph.D.

(Senior Lecturer of Personality and Abnormal Psychology, Roehampton College, UK, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London)

Date : Tuesday, 4 Sept 2012

Venue : Seminar Room B, AS7-01-17, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Time : 4.00pm – 5.00pm

About the Speaker

Dr. Elias Tsakanikos obtained his MSc in Research Methods and his Ph.D. in Psychology at University College London. He is currently Senior Lecturer of Personality and Abnormal Psychology at Roehampton University, London, UK. He is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry (IOP), King’s College London and was previously a Lecturer and Course Director of the MSc in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities at the IOP from 2006-2010. He has written more than 45 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in psychopathology and neurodevelopment of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, psychopathology and personality and individual differences. His current research interests focus on psychiatric comorbidity and mental health in autism and other developmental disabilities, predictors of behavioral difficulties in intellectual disabilities and assessment of psychopathology in individuals with disabilities. He is on the editorial board of a number of journals, including the Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities and Research in Developmental Disabilities. His research has a strong applied focus and he has served as a committee member on a number of national initiatives relating to mental health in learning and developmental disabilities in the UK.