# The expansion of the autism spectrum in adult psychiatry: diagnostic stability, clinical utility, and construct validity - URL: https://alisanburak.com/en/wcp-2026-posterler/ev0158 - Language: en - Last updated: not specified - Page title: The expansion of the autism spectrum in adult psychiatry: diagnostic stability, clinical utility, and construct validity | WCP 2026 Summary > The increasing recognition of autism in adults may improve access and provide an explanatory framework, but diagnosis requires a developmentally grounded formu… This page was translated automatically from Turkish. [Read the original](https://alisanburak.com/wcp-2026-posterler/ev0158) This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it. EV0158 E-PosterOtherReview # The expansion of the autism spectrum in adult psychiatry: diagnostic stability, clinical utility, and construct validity BROADENING OF THE AUTISM SPECTRUM IN ADULT PSYCHIATRY: DIAGNOSTIC STABILITY, CLINICAL UTILITY AND CONSTRUCT VALIDITY Presenter: Andreia Castanheira da Silva Country: Portugal The increasing recognition of autism in adults may improve access and provide an explanatory framework, but diagnosis requires a developmentally grounded formulation. This review aims to examine whether the increasing attribution of adult presentations to the autism spectrum reflects improved recognition or the diagnostic reclassification of heterogeneous psychiatric presentations. The approach is a narrative synthesis drawing on diagnostic practice, a longitudinal perspective, and formulation; no quantitative data, sample, or statistical analysis is reported. The poster proposes a developmentally grounded assessment framework that moves from presenting features (social communication differences, rigidity, sensory experiences) to developmental evidence (early history, patterns across settings, longitudinal functioning) and then to clinical formulation (autism, comorbidity, phenocopies, alternative explanations). Key findings indicate that late diagnosis may address historically overlooked presentations and offer a meaningful explanatory framework for some adults; that anxiety, trauma-related conditions, mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, ADHD, and enduring personality traits may overlap or coexist; and that guidelines emphasize developmental history, functioning across contexts, direct assessment, and differential diagnosis. According to the authors, clinical utility depends less on competition between diagnostic labels than on whether the formulation explains long-standing patterns and guides meaningful support. Clinical priorities are listed as reconstructing early developmental history, examining patterns across the lifespan and across contexts, assessing psychiatric comorbidity and alternative explanations, and integrating functional impact and patient goals. In conclusion, broader recognition may increase access to an explanatory framework, but adult autism assessment requires a developmentally grounded formulation that distinguishes autism, comorbidity, and alternative explanations. [View the original poster](https://cslide.ctimeetingtech.com/wcp26/attendee/eposter/file/1986) How to cite this study APA 7: da Silva, A. C., Dos Santos, D., & Miranda, F. (2026, September 23-26). Broadening of the autism spectrum in adult psychiatry: diagnostic stability, clinical utility and construct validity [E-poster]. 26th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP 2026), Stockholm, Sweden. https://cslide.ctimeetingtech.com/wcp26/attendee/eposter/file/1986 Vancouver: da Silva AC, Dos Santos D, Miranda F. Broadening of the autism spectrum in adult psychiatry: diagnostic stability, clinical utility and construct validity [e-poster]. 26th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP 2026); 2026 Sep 23-26; Stockholm, Sweden. 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