Thompson, Lisa MarieWilkinson, EwanNall-Evans, SharleenMichelet, FelixLewis, Michael ThomasPender, FionaJaydeokar, Sujeet2023-08-212023-08-212023-06-07Thompson, L. M., Wilkinson, E., Nall-Evans, S., Michelet, F., Lewis, M. T., Pender, F., & Jaydeokar, S. (2023). Can the “Current View” show that autistic young people referred to mental health services have more comorbidities and complex needs? Advances in Autism, 9(3), 293-305. http://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-02-2023-00052056-386810.1108/AIA-02-2023-0005http://hdl.handle.net/10034/627995Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited. This AAM is provided for your own personal use only. It may not be used for resale, reprinting, systematic distribution, emailing, or for any other commercial purpose without the permission of the publisher.Purpose Autistic young people have health and care needs that may benefit from a multi-agency intervention. The “Current View” tool is routinely used in England to profile the needs of young people referred to mental health services. This study aims to examine associations between comorbidities and complex needs in autistic and non-autistic young people to assess the multifaceted needs of autistic young people. Design/methodology/approach A cohort study was conducted using data from the electronic patient record, comparing autistic and non-autistic young people to see which items in the four “Current View” tool categories were associated with autistic young people. Findings Issues associated with autistic young people were: “community issues”, “attainment issues” and “deemed child in need” (all p < 0.001). Autistic young people scored significantly more items (p < 0.05) in the categories complexity/contextual/educational factors. Comorbidities associated with autistic young people included anxiety, “behavioural difficulties”, “peer relationship difficulties” and “self-care issues” (all p < 0.001). There was an association with increased comorbidities and complexity factors in autistic young people which suggests increased support from agencies may be beneficial. Originality/value Few studies have used data in the “Current View” tool to assess young people referred to services. More use could be made of this data for planning and delivering services.Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/Children and young people’s mental health servicesMulti-agency supportArticle2056-3876Advances in Autism9