Autism Spectrum Disorder and depression are often co-occurring in young people. However, despite the association between these two disorders, and the fact that females have a higher prevalence of depression than males in the general population, there is little reported evidence regarding the correlates of depression in young autistic females. Several physiological (age, menarche, HPA-axis responses), psychological (social anxiety), and environmental or genetic (mothers’ depression) factors were tested for their contribution to depression severity in a sample of 53 autistic girls aged 6 yr to 17 yr. Depression scores were collected from the girls’ self-ratings and also from the ratings their mothers gave them. Regression results indicated that girls’ social anxiety, age, and mothers’ depression were common significant contributors to both sets of depression scores, but with different effects. Autistic girls’ self-reports of their depression were significantly associated with their HPA-axis responses but not with their menarche status. Implications for research and clinical settings are discussed.

中文翻译：

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自闭症女孩抑郁的生理、心理和环境因素

自闭症谱系障碍和抑郁症经常同时发生在年轻人身上。然而，尽管这两种疾病之间存在关联，并且女性在一般人群中的抑郁症患病率高于男性，但关于年轻自闭症女性抑郁症相关性的报道证据很少。在 53 名 6 岁至 17 岁的自闭症女孩的样本中，测试了几种生理（年龄、初潮、HPA 轴反应）、心理（社交焦虑）和环境或遗传（母亲的抑郁）因素对抑郁严重程度的影响. 抑郁分数是从女孩的自我评价和母亲给她们的评价中收集的。回归结果表明，女孩的社交焦虑、年龄、和母亲的抑郁症是两组抑郁症评分的共同显着贡献者，但影响不同。自闭症女孩对抑郁的自我报告与她们的 HPA 轴反应显着相关，但与她们的初潮状态无关。讨论了对研究和临床环境的影响。