John N Constantino1, Richard D Todd. 1. Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. constantino@wustl.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Autistic disorder (AD) is a disabling oligogenic condition characterized by severe social impairment. Subthreshold autistic social impairments are known to aggregate in the family members of autistic probands; therefore, we conducted this study to examine the intergenerational transmission of such traits in the general population. METHODS: The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), a quantitative measure of autistic traits, was completed on 285 pairs of twins (by maternal report) and on their parents (by spouse report). RESULTS: Correlation for social impairment or competence between parents and their children and between spouses was on the order of .4. In families in which both parents scored in the upper quartile for social impairment on the SRS, mean SRS score of offspring was significantly elevated (effect size 1.5). Estimated assortative mating explained approximately 30% of the variation in parent SRS scores. CONCLUSIONS: Children from families in which both parents manifest subthreshold autistic traits exhibit a substantial shift in the distribution of their scores for impairment in reciprocal social behavior, toward the pathological end. As has been previously demonstrated in children, heritable subthreshold autistic impairments are measurable in adults and appear continuously distributed in the general population.
BACKGROUND:Autistic disorder (AD) is a disabling oligogenic condition characterized by severe social impairment. Subthreshold autistic social impairments are known to aggregate in the family members of autistic probands; therefore, we conducted this study to examine the intergenerational transmission of such traits in the general population. METHODS: The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), a quantitative measure of autistic traits, was completed on 285 pairs of twins (by maternal report) and on their parents (by spouse report). RESULTS: Correlation for social impairment or competence between parents and their children and between spouses was on the order of .4. In families in which both parents scored in the upper quartile for social impairment on the SRS, mean SRS score of offspring was significantly elevated (effect size 1.5). Estimated assortative mating explained approximately 30% of the variation in parent SRS scores. CONCLUSIONS:Children from families in which both parents manifest subthreshold autistic traits exhibit a substantial shift in the distribution of their scores for impairment in reciprocal social behavior, toward the pathological end. As has been previously demonstrated in children, heritable subthreshold autistic impairments are measurable in adults and appear continuously distributed in the general population.
Authors: Natasha Marrus; Carley Faughn; Jeremy Shuman; Steve E Petersen; John N Constantino; Daniel J Povinelli; John R Pruett Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2011-02-25 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Judith S Nijmeijer; Alejandro Arias-Vásquez; Nanda N J Rommelse; Marieke E Altink; Cathelijne J M Buschgens; Ellen A Fliers; Barbara Franke; Ruud B Minderaa; Joseph A Sergeant; Jan K Buitelaar; Pieter J Hoekstra; Catharina A Hartman Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2014-07
Authors: Ning Liu; Sarit Cliffer; Anjali H Pradhan; Amy Lightbody; Scott S Hall; Allan L Reiss Journal: Neurophotonics Date: 2016-08-17 Impact factor: 3.593