Fibromyalgia (FM) is a heterogeneous chronic pain condition frequently accompanied by psychiatric symptoms. Although affective symptoms are highly prevalent, they are often treated as secondary correlates of pain or disability. This study examined whether psychiatric symptom profiles parallel disability severity or represent partially independent dimensions across disability-based FM phenotypes.

We analyzed a harmonized multisite cohort of adults with FM recruited from two academic medical centers. Disability-based phenotypes were defined using a validated percentile-based classification dichotomizing participants into low-impact and high-impact FM. Psychiatric domains were derived from standardized measures of depressive and anxiety-related symptoms. Multivariate clustering was used to identify affective profiles, and their distribution across disability phenotypes was examined. Dimensional analyses assessed the relationship between affective burden and functional impairment.

Among participants with complete psychiatric data (n = 613), four reproducible affective profiles were identified: minimal affective symptoms, mild affective symptoms, moderate mixed affective symptoms, and severe mixed affective symptoms. Although profiles characterized by greater affective burden were enriched among individuals with high-impact FM, all affective profiles were represented across both disability groups. Notably, a substantial proportion of individuals with high-impact FM exhibited minimal or mild affective symptoms. Dimensional analyses supported partial orthogonality between affective burden and disability severity.

Psychiatric comorbidity in FM does not simply reflect pain severity or functional impairment. Instead, affective symptoms form partially independent dimensions that cut across disability-based phenotypes. These findings support a multidimensional neuropsychiatric framework for FM with implications for stratified assessment and personalized intervention.

Nearly two-thirds of individuals with a mental disorder start experiencing symptoms during adolescence or early adulthood, and the onset of a mental disorder during this critical life stage strongly predicts adverse socioeconomic and health outcomes. Subthreshold manifestations of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), also called autistic traits (ATs), are known to be associated with a higher vulnerability to the development of other psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to assess the presence of ATs in a population of young adults seeking specialist assistance and to evaluate the study population across various psychopathological domains in order to determine their links with ATs.

We recruited a sample of 263 adolescents and young adults referring to a specialized outpatient clinic, and we administered them several self-report questionnaires for the evaluation of various psychopathological domains. We conducted a cluster analysis based on the prevalence of ATs, empathy, and sensory sensitivity scores.

The cluster analysis identified three distinct groups in the sample: an AT cluster (22.43%), an intermediate cluster (45.25%), and a no-AT cluster (32.32%). Moreover, subjects with higher ATs exhibited greater symptomatology across multiple domains, including mood, anxiety, eating disorder severity, psychotic symptoms, and personality traits such as detachment and vulnerable narcissism.

This study highlights the importance of identifying ATs in young individuals struggling with mental health concerns. Additionally, our findings underscore the necessity of adopting a dimensional approach to psychopathology to better understand the complex interplay of symptoms and facilitate tailored interventions.