Frotteurism and Kleptomania in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Report
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51338/rppsm.505Keywords:
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct DisordersAbstract
Innate vulnerabilities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could increase the risk of comorbid psychiatric conditions and judicial problems. Persistent deficits in social communication, narrow, repetitive interests, or sensory impairments could lead to deviant behaviors. This case study refers to a 22-year-old male who exhibited behavioral particularities in agreement with the presence of frotteurism and kleptomania. The impulsive nature of these behaviors was consistent with repetitive and stereotyped patterns. Premorbid social impairments, mainly in the communication domain, were also prominent, leading to the suspicion of ASD. This case report introduces two rare comorbid conditions in ASD, with forensic implications that can severely impact patients’ lives. The importance of this association especially applies to high-functioning ASD, given the propensity to an unknown diagnosis. A high-level awareness of ASD, especially in forensic psychiatry, is of paramount pertinence regarding the opportunity for early interventions addressing sexual education and social skills training. Autism, high-level, frotteurism, kleptomania, sexual, impulse, forensic, psychiatry, social skillsDownloads
References
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. Washington: APA; 2013.
Elsabbagh M, Divan G, Koh YJ, Kim YS, Kauchali S, Marcín C, et al. Global prevalence of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Autism Res. 2012;5:160-79.
Lyall K, Croen L, Daniels J, Fallin MD, Ladd-Acosta C, Lee BK, et al. The changing epidemiology of autism spectrum disorders. Annu Rev Public Health. 2017;38:81-102. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044318.
McPartland J, Volkmar FR. Autism and related disorders. Handb Clin Neurol. 2012;106:407-18. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-64148-9.00010-7.
Tromans S, Chester V, Kiani R, Alexander R, Brugha T. The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in adult psychiatric inpatients: a systematic review. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2018;14:177-87. doi: 10.2174/1745017901814010177.
Hossain MM, Khan N, Sultana A, Ma P, McKyer ELJ, Ahmed HU, et al. Prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders among people with autism spectrum disorder: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Psychiatry Res. 2020;287:112922. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112922.
Tager-Flusberg H. The origins of social impairments in autism spectrum disorder: studies of infants at risk. Neural Netw. 2010;23:1072-6.
Fernandes LC, Gillberg CI, Cederlund M, Hagberg B, Gillberg C, Billstedt E. Aspects of sexuality in adolescents and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders in childhood. J Autism Dev Disord. 2016;46:3155-65. doi: 10.1007/s10803-016-2855-9.
Schöttle D, Briken P, Tüscher O, Turner D. Sexuality in autism: hypersexual and paraphilic behavior in women and men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2017;19:381-93. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.4/dschoettle.
Bhatia K, Parekh U. Frotteurism. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island: StatPearls Publishing; 2022.
Patra AP, Bharadwaj B, Shaha KK, Das S, Rayamane AP, Tripathi CS. Impulsive frotteurism: a case report. Med Sci Law. 2013;53:235-8.
Zhang ZH, Huang FR, Liu DH. Kleptomania: Recent Advances in Symptoms, Etiology and Treatment. Curr Med Sci. 2018;38:937-40. doi: 10.1007/ s11596-018-1966-2.
Lord C, Rutter M, DiLavore P, Risi S, Gotham K, Bishop S. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. 2nd ed. Torrance: Western Psychological Services; 2012.
Lord C, Rutter M, DiLavore P, Risi S, Gotham K, Bishop S. ADOS-2. Escala de Observación para el Diagnóstico del Autismo - 2. Manual (Parte 1): Módulos 1-4 (T. Luque, adaptadora). Madrid: TEA Ediciones; 2015.
Lai MC, Kassee C, Besney R, Bonato S, Hull L, Mandy W, et al. Prevalence of co-occurring mental health diagnoses in the autism population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2019;6:819-29. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30289-5.
Creaby-Attwood A, Allely CS. A psycho-legal perspective on sexual offending in individuals with autism Spectrum disorder. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2017;55:72-80. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2017.10.009.
Frith U, Happé F. Autism: beyond “theory of mind”. Cognition. 1994;50:115-32.
Haskins BG, Silva JA. Asperger’s disorder and criminal behavior: forensic-psychiatric considerations. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2006;34:374-84.
Allely CS, Creaby-Attwood A. Sexual offending and autism spectrum disorders. J Intellect Disabil Offending Behav. 2016;7:35–51.
Murrie DC, Warren JI, Kristiansson M, Dietz PE. Asperger’s syndrome in forensic settings. Int J Forensic Ment Health. 2002;1:59–70.
Grant JE, Kim SW. Brain circuitry of compulsivity and impulsivity. CNS Spectr. 2014;19:21-7. doi: 10.1017/ S109285291300028X.
Mogavero MC. Autism, sexual offending, and the criminal justice system. J Intellect Disabil Offending Behav. 2016;7:116–26.
Lussier P, Piche L. Frotteurism: psychopathology and theory. In: Laws DR, O’Donohue WT, editors. Sexual deviance. Theory, assessment, and treatment. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford; 2008. p. 131–49.
Joyal CC, Carpentier J. The Prevalence of Paraphilic Interests and Behaviors in the General Population: A Provincial Survey. J Sex Res. 2017;54:161-71. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2016.1139034.
