Pervasive Refusal Syndrome: Three Case Reports—Autism as a Predisposing Factor and Gentle Coercion to Shorten Duration of Disorder?

Table 2

Background characteristics.

	Case 1	Case 2	Case 3
Age of onset (years:months)	16:7	11:7	9:8
Gender	Female	Female	Female
Family history	Autistic traits	Depression	Obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, panic disorder
Personality	High achiever, perfectionistic, anxious, conscientious	Caring, rigid	Perfectionistic, anxious, caring, conscientious
Family setting	Intact, youngest of three sisters	Divorcing, youngest with an older brother	Intact, only child
Comorbidity	Posttraumatic stress disorder, autism, subclinical inattention	Autistic traits, subclinical inattention	Generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks
Stressors	Undiagnosed autism, domestic brawl	Parental divorce, conflicts among peers	Parental discord, mother-child overinvolved
Precipitators	—	Throat infection	Flu, gastroenteritis, head trauma