TY - JOUR
T1 - Intergenerational transmission of subthreshold autistic traits in the general population
AU - Constantino, John N.
AU - Todd, Richard D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant HD042541 (JNC) and National Institutes of Health grants MH52813 and NS44002 (RDT).
PY - 2005/3/15
Y1 - 2005/3/15
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Assortative mating
KW - Autism
KW - Family studies
KW - Genetics
KW - Pervasive developmental disorder
KW - Twins
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=15744390996&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.12.014
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.12.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 15780853
AN - SCOPUS:15744390996
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 57
SP - 655
EP - 660
JO - Biological Psychiatry
JF - Biological Psychiatry
IS - 6
ER -