Les enfants et les adolescents ayant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA) ont plus de risque de développer un trouble dépressif que leurs pairs. Ce trouble serait plus long et plus sévère que chez leurs pairs. Cet article vise à décrire la portée de la littérature selon la méthode d’Arksey et O’Malley sur la question des troubles dépressifs en concomitance au TSA depuis 2013, et à évaluer la qualité des études sélectionnées en suivant la grille QATSDD. Deux milles cent vingt articles ont été trouvés à partir des mots clés. Après avoir appliqués les critères d’inclusion et d’exclusion, 15 articles ont été examinés. Différents thèmes sont ressortis de l’analyse de la littérature : les méthodes d’évaluation des symptômes dépressifs, la prévalence du trouble dépressif chez les enfants et les adolescents ayant un TSA, la comparaison de ces éléments à ceux de leurs pairs, les facteurs associés aux symptômes dépressifs et les recommandations en termes de suivi. D’après les critères de la QATSDD, les articles ont une qualité moyenne. Des recherches supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour estimer la prévalence, définir les méthodes d’évaluation et une prise en charge basée sur les preuves.

Depressive disorders are one of the most frequent psychiatric comorbidity associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Mazzone et al., 2013) are difficult to identify (Magnuson and Constantino, 2011), longer and more intense (Mayes et al., 2011) than in peers.

The aim was to explore the ways in which the co-occurrence of depressive disorders and ASD have been studied in the literature since the release of DSM 5.

This scoping review was carried out following Arksey and O’Malley's (2005) method and using the data set collected in Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed and ScienceDirect items with “depression”, “depressive disorder”, “major depressive disorder” or “suicide” and “autism” or “autism spectrum disorder” or “Asperger”. Inclusion criteria were publication after 2013, participants’ age (under 18) or when adults are included, subgroup analyses, diagnostic with DSM-IV or 5 criteria and/or standardized tools, information concerning participants’ development, and language (French or English). Literature reviews were not included. The quality of the studies was assessed using the QATSDD (Sirriyeh et al., 2012).

Fifteen studies were included. Following QATSDD criteria, the studies had a median quality score. Two thousand one hundred and twenty articles were found. Applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, fifteen were included in this scoping review. The themes discussed are prevalence, assessment method, associated factors and psychological therapy recommended in children and adolescents with ASD and a depressive disorder. Following QATSDD criteria, studies had a median quality score. 7 to 83% of children and adolescents with ASD have a depressive disorder (Greenlee et al., 2016; Mazzone et al., 2013). Agreement between self- and hetero-evaluative assessments is weak (36%) (Andersen et al., 2015). Depression scores vary according to the tools used (Mazzone et al., 2013). Actual assessment of depressive disorders in children and adolescents with ASD appears to lack validity and reliability. The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale was developed for children and adolescents with High Functioning ASD, but authors stress that this scale is insufficient to assess depressive symptomatology in this population (Sterling et al., 2015). Depressive symptoms increase with age (Bitsika et al., 2016; Greenlee et al., 2016; Mazzone et al., 2013; Park et al., 2013). Contradictory results describe the link between functioning level and depressive symptoms (Bitsika et al., 2016; Greenlee et al., 2016; Mazzone et al., 2013; Park et al., 2013). Social difficulties (Pouw et al., 2013) and sensorial features (Andersen et al., 2015; Bitsika et al., 2016) are positively correlated with depressive symptoms. Somatic troubles are also positively linked to depressive disorders such as gastrointestinal troubles and cortisol levels (Sharpley et al., 2016). Avoiding coping strategies protects from depressive disorders, especially when done more often over time (Pouw et al., 2013; Rieffe et al., 2014). Anxiety troubles and depressive disorders are positively correlated (Hollocks et al., 2014). Finally, parental anxiety or depression is positively associated with depressive symptoms in children (Park et al., 2013). A study is testing the efficiency of group behavioral therapy for adolescents with High Functioning ASD (Santomauro et al., 2016). The results are encouraging.

Depressive disorders are characterized by specific symptoms in children and adolescents with ASD. Current and specific depressive disorders signs can be observed in the event of environment changes and pain. All recommendations were not followed in studies.

Future studies are needed to describe depressive symptomatology in children and adolescents with ASD, validate an assessment tool, identify risk factors of this co-occurrence and test the effectiveness of therapies.