Autism severity aggregates with family psychiatric history in a community‐based autism sample

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine family psychiatric history in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its association with clinical presentation. Participants were 798 individuals with a clinical diagnosis of ASD, confirmed by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), enrolled in Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment, a statewide research registry. Prior research suggests a specific behavioral phenotype in individuals with ASD who have family members with psychiatric diagnoses, including higher IQ and less severe language impairment. However, studies have not specifically investigated autism severity. We hypothesized that increased psychiatric family history would be associated with increased autism severity symptoms. Results show a strong association of increased burden of firstdegree family psychiatric history with higher autism symptom severity as measured by Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2), but not with ADOS-2 severity scores, IQ, or adaptive functioning. These findings support the importance of investigating the contribution of psychiatric family history toward clinical ASD presentation. Lay SummaryThis study explored how family psychiatric history is related to clinical presentation of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Higher amounts of first-degree family psychiatric history was associated with higher autism symptom severity as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2). The contribution of psychiatric family history requires ongoing investigation.

Prenatal maternal stress and the severity of autism spectrum disorder: A cross‐sectional study

“…The authors reported a strong relationship with Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2), but not with IQ, adaptive functioning TA B L E 3 Ordinal-regression analysis for sociodemographic factors, maternal exposures during pregnancy, gestation, consanguinity, and rating of total life event score (model 1)/or severity of life event exposure (model 2) and their relationship to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) severity or ADOS-2 severity scores (Sipsock et al, 2021). In this study, when using the DSM-5, a statistically significant relationship between family history and ASD severity was found.…”

“…Furthermore, a recent study evaluated, for the first time, the relationship between family psychiatric history in ASD and ASD severity. The authors reported a strong relationship with Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS‐2), but not with IQ, adaptive functioning or ADOS‐2 severity scores (Sipsock et al., 2021). In this study, when using the DSM‐5, a statistically significant relationship between family history and ASD severity was found.…”

Decoding microRNAs in autism spectrum disorder

“… 48 In patients with ASD, the temporal lobe is impaired; positron emission tomography (PET) scans reveal that the blood perfusion is insufficient in this region. 49 Expression analysis of the temporal lobe of ASD children revealed that miR-146a was the most up-regulated miRNA in the ASD brain in the early postnatal period compared with healthy controls ( Figure 1 ). In these samples, high-confidence risk genes of ASD were downregulated, such as SYT1 (patients with missense variants in SYT1 showed blood perfusion insufficiency phenotypes in temporal lobe).…”

A Sentiment Analysis of Autism Tweets

“…ASD can be a minor problem or disability that requires full-time care in a special facility. The available literature suggests that persons diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and who have relatives with mental conditions have a recognisable behavioural paradigm [1]. This type of behaviour is characterised by elevated levels of intelligence quotient (IQ) and less pronounced language impairments.…”