Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
New ResearchInvestigating the Association Between Autistic-Like and Internalizing Traits in a Community-Based Twin Sample
Section snippets
Autistic-Like Traits and other Behavioral Problems
A twin design can be used to disentangle the degree to which the covariation between two traits is attributable to shared genetic or environmental influences. Three existing studies have investigated the etiologic association between autistic-like traits and other behavior problems, including withdrawn behaviors such as shyness,22 ADHD,1 and aggression and delinquency.22a In general, these studies suggested significant covariation between autistic-like traits and other behavioral problems and a
Autistic-Like Traits and Internalizing Behaviors
Despite high rates of co-occurrence between ASD and internalizing disorders, little is known about the etiologic explanation. Furthermore, no studies to date have analyzed the phenotypic or the etiologic association between internalizing and autistic-like traits within the reference range. We predicted that there would be substantial phenotypic overlap between these traits. With regard to the etiologic association, we predicted that there would be some genetic and environmental influences that
Participants
Data came from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), a population-representative sample of twins born in the United Kingdom between the years 1994-1996.14, 23 The study included data collected at age 8 and 9 years. Children were excluded if there were reports of extreme prenatal or perinatal difficulties or severe medical disorders. Children with diagnosed ASD were also excluded from the data collection, along with their cotwin. As such, our analysis focused on typically developing
Results
The descriptive statistics for the internalizing and autistic-like trait measures are presented in Table 1. The results show that, for the CAST, the male subjects scored higher than the female subjects (parent-reported data: F1,6264 = 265.52, p < .01; teacher-reported data: F1,2769 = 118.98, p < .01). Zygosity had a significant effect on the mean scores for parent-reported CAST, with DZ twins scoring significantly higher than MZ twins (F2,6264 = 5.31, p < .01). There were no significant
Discussion
The current study examined the phenotypic and etiologic association between autistic-like traits and internalizing traits within a population-based sample of 8- to 9-year-old twins, using parent- and teacher-reported data. To the best of our knowledge, it represents the first investigation of the phenotypic overlap between these traits in the general population and the first quantitative genetic investigation of their etiologic overlap in either a clinic- or population-based sample.
Ratings of
References (47)
- et al.
Anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders
Clin Psychol Rev
(2009) - et al.
Autism spectrum disorder scale scores in pediatric mood and anxiety disorders
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2008) - et al.
Genetic heterogeneity between the three components of the autism spectrum: a twin study
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2006) - et al.
Deficits in reciprocal social behavior in male twins: evidence for a genetically independent domain of psychopathology
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2003) - et al.
Genetic and environmental influences on the temporal association between earlier anxiety and later depression in girls
Biol Psychiatry
(2001) - et al.
Phenotypic and genetic overlap between autistic traits at the extremes of the general population
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2006) - et al.
Evidence for overlapping genetic influences on autistic and ADHD behaviours in a community twin sample
J Child Psychol Psychiatry
(2008) - Reference deleted in...
- et al.
The prevalence of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome in children and adolescents with autism
J Child Psychol Psychiatry
(1999) - et al.
Symptom overlap between autism spectrum disorder, generalized social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults: a preliminary case-controlled study
Psychopathology
(2008)
The presentation of anxiety in children with pervasive developmental disorders
J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol
Depression in persons with autism: implications for research and clinical care
J Autism Dev Disord
The prevalence of anxiety and mood problems among children with autism and Asperger syndrome
Autism
Parent-rated anxiety symptoms in children with pervasive developmental disorders: frequency and association with core autism symptoms and cognitive functioning
J Abnorm Child Psychol
Anxiety in high-functioning children with autism
Autism
The fears, phobias and anxieties of children with autism spectrum disorders and Down syndrome: comparisons with developmentally and chronologically age matched children
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev
Anxiety and social worries in children with Asperger syndrome
Aust N Z J Psychiatry
Obsessions and compulsions in Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism
Br J Psychiatry
Autistic traits in the general population: a twin study
Arch Gen Psychiatry
The genetic relationship between individual differences in social and nonsocial behaviours characteristic of autism
Dev Sci
Heritability of autistic traits in the general population
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
Measuring autistic traits: heritability, reliability and validity of the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist
Br J Psychiatry
Genetic influences on anxiety in children: what we've learned and where we're heading
Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev
Cited by (28)
Homotypic and Heterotypic Continuity in Psychiatric Symptoms From Childhood to Adolescence in Autistic Youth
2022, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :This would suggest that the increased prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses in autistic youth cannot be explained by one singular causal route, but that the increased prevalence of emotional, behavioral, and ADHD symptoms in autistic youth all require their own explanatory framework. For example, the increased prevalence of ADHD in autistic youth is thought to be in part due to overlapping genetic liability for the 2 disorders,46 but genetic overlap is not thought to be the main driver of the increased prevalence of emotional47 or behavioral48 disorders in autistic populations. However, we note that the strongest evidence for a p factor comes from studies of transitions in psychiatric diagnosis between adolescence and adulthood4 and lifetime cohort studies.10
Psychiatric problems of Chinese college students with high autism traits
2018, Research in Autism Spectrum DisordersCitation Excerpt :Individuals with high ASD traits may also present with elevated obsessive-compulsive symptoms, e.g., low novelty seeking, high harm avoidance, and low reward dependence (Kunihira et al., 2006), just as individuals with clinically diagnosed ASD (Russell, Mataix-Cols, Anson, & Murphy, 2005; Ruta et al., 2010). Up to now, most published studies examining the increased psychiatric problems in individuals with high ASD traits have been carried out with participants in Western countries (United States [e.g., Kanne et al., 2009; Mayes, Gorman, Hillwig-Garcia, & Syed, 2013], England [e.g., Hallett, Ronald, & Happé, 2009]. Few studies have examined the comorbidity and correlates of clinically relevant ASD in Eastern countries (Kunihira et al., 2006), especially in China.
The relationship of parental expressed emotion to co-occurring psychopathology in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review
2018, Research in Developmental DisabilitiesCitation Excerpt :These rates of psychiatric disorder are roughly 5- to 10-times higher than those reported in the general population of youth. The reasons for this increase are only partially understood; while it is likely that shared genetic risk factors predominate in the co-occurrence with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD (Lundström et al., 2015), this explanation does not appear to apply to anxiety disorders (Hallett, Ronald, & Happé, 2009). Parental and family influences are recognized to be important factors for the development and/or maintenance of psychopathology amongst typically developing (TD, without ASD) children; family factors include demographic characteristics such as family structure, social class and socioeconomic position, but also characteristics that may relate more proximally to the child’s environment, such as family cohesion, parenting style and emotional tone (Ford, Goodman, & Meltzer, 2004).
Genetic and environmental influences underlying the relationship between autistic traits and temperament and character dimensions in adulthood
2015, Comprehensive PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :A study on undergraduate students found that the participants reporting a greater degree of autistic traits as measured with a short, self-report version of the Social Responsiveness Scale reported also a higher level of psychiatric symptoms, especially depression and anxiety [43]. Studies on children also revealed a significant correlation between autistic-like and internalising traits [44], and suggested that autistic-like traits in later childhood are partly driven by earlier internalising difficulties, and that early autistic-like difficulties may also have an impact on subsequent anxiety and depression [45]. The finding of a significant correlation between autistic traits and emotional distress is also consistent with clinical reports that children, adolescents, and adults diagnosed with an ASD frequently have comorbid symptoms of anxiety and depression [46,47].
Comorbid psychopathology symptom rates in infants and toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders
2014, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Twins Early Development Study is funded by a program grant from the U.K. Medical Research Council (G500079).
The authors thank Prof. Robert Plomin and his team for the use of data from the Twins Early Development Study and all of the families who participated.