How are Sensory Features associated with seven anxiety disorders in boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder?

•Sensory Features (SF) are a neurobiological aspect of Autism Spectrum Disorders.•SF has been correlated with general anxiety in ASD but not with 7 anxiety disorders.•Boys and parents ratings of SF and 7 anxiety disorders anxiety were investigated.•Different relationships were found for boys and parents ratings.•Global evaluation of SF and anxiety may be unreliable.

The association between Sensory Features (SF) and seven anxiety disorders was investigated using self-reports and parental reports about 140 young males with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Although there were significant correlations between SF and self- and parent-ratings of some of the seven anxiety disorders, overall, SF was found to have an inconsistent association across the seven anxiety disorders and this was also found for the 8 symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder. These data challenge the practice of assessing SF and anxiety via global measures and argue for individualized disorder-specific assessments to develop more effective diagnoses and treatments for the effects of SF.