Although Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is considered to be a lifelong condition, some toddlers experience diagnostic instability over time. In particular, some toddlers’ diagnosis changes between ASD and Global Developmental Delay (GDD). However, little is known about the subset of children who change diagnosis. In a total of 424 toddlers who either maintained or changed diagnosis, the current study identified predictors of change in diagnosis and severity in those who change from ASD to non-ASD (ASD-NON), ASD to GDD (ASD-GDD), non-ASD to ASD (NON-ASD), and GDD to ASD (GDD-ASD) between two years old and four years old. Initial ASD symptom severity and participation in intervention services were predictive of all transitions. Additionally, receptive language predicted ASD-NON transition and socioeconomic status predicted ASD-GDD transition. Implications for informing prognosis of children, identifying targets of intervention, refining of screening and diagnostic measures, and measuring change in severity regardless of categorical change are discussed.

Tidigare forskning har visat en hög prevalens av personlighetssyndrom hos patienter inom rättspsykiatrisk vård. Diagnostisk stabilitet av personlighetssyndrom har undersökts i kliniska populationer men till vår kännedom ej hos vårddömda patienter. Följande uppsats är en retrospektiv aktmaterialstudie som utgår från tre årskohorter av vårddömda patienter. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka förekomst samt diagnostisk stabilitet av personlighetssyndrom. Att undersöka diagnostisk stabilitet är betydelsefullt då aktuella diagnoser påverkar valet av lämpliga vårdinsatser. Journal- och aktmaterial granskades från RPU och genom det aktuella vårdtillfället för inkluderade patienter (n=65). Personlighetssyndrom var vanligt förekommande i urvalsgruppen, främst inom kluster B, men samsjukligheten var däremot oväntat låg. Den diagnostiska stabiliteten för samtliga personlighetssyndrom var 54.5 %. Begränsningar med studien var framförallt storleken på urvalet. Framtida forskning behöver bland annat fokusera på faktorer som kan påverka graden av diagnostisk stabilitet, såsom ålder och vårdtid. / Previous research has shown a high prevalence of personality syndrome among mentally disordered offenders. Diagnostic stability regarding personality syndromes has been studied in clinical populations but has, to our knowledge, not been examined for patients within forensic psychiatric care. The following study is a retrospective register study based on three cohorts of forensic psychiatric patients. The aim of this thesis was to examine the prevalence and diagnostic stability of personality syndromes. Studying diagnostic stability is important as treatment decisions largely depend on a correct diagnosis and an understanding of the course of the disease. Medical records and case files were reviewed from the forensic psychiatric investigation and throughout the current treatment episode for the included patients (n=65). Personality disorders were common in the group, primarily within cluster B, while commorbidity was unexpectedly low. The diagnostic stability for personality syndromes were 54.5 %. Limitations of the study was primarily the small number of participants. Future research should investigate potential predictors for diagnostic stability such as age and length of treatment.