Associations between parental broader autism phenotype and child autism spectrum disorder phenotype in the Study to Explore Early Development.
Eric Rubenstein, Lisa D Wiggins, Laura A Schieve and 9 others
PMID 29376397WHAT IT FOUND
At least one parent with broader autism phenotype was linked to children with confirmed autism being in a mild language and motor delay class with anxiety, depression, attention and sleep problems.
This does not show that therapy works.
Key findings
01At least one parent classified as having broader autism phenotype was associated with the child being in the Mild Language and Motor Delay with Dysregulation class rather than the Significant Developmental Delay with Repetitive Motor Behaviors class; the paper reports odds 2.44 times that of children with both parents BAP-negative (95% CI: 1.16, 5.09).
02When only the father was BAP-positive, the child was more likely to be in the Mild Language and Motor Delay with Dysregulation class than the Significant Developmental Delay with Repetitive Motor Behaviors class (OR: 2.71; 95% CI: 1.09, 6.77).
03The Mild Language Delay with Cognitive Rigidity class and the General Developmental Delay class were not associated with parental BAP status when compared with the Significant Developmental Delay with Repetitive Motor Behaviors class.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is observational, so it does not show that parental broader autism phenotype caused the child's autism phenotype or that any therapy should change. Parental Social Responsiveness Scale-Adult data were missing for approximately 17% of children with autism, and 183 children were missing parental Social Responsiveness Scale-Adult data. The Social Responsiveness Scale-Adult was not specifically designed to measure broader autism phenotype, and the informant was unknown for 37.5% of fathers and 75.7% of mothers, with possible self-report affecting accuracy. Estimates were imprecise for mother-only BAP-positive (N = 20), both parents BAP-positive, and girls (N = 20). The analysis used six sites that may not fully represent other geographic areas, and latent class results depend on the chosen indicators and sample characteristics. The study did not statistically adjust for demographic characteristics or assess potential mediators such as socioeconomic status, parental education, child age at diagnosis, and child service usage.
Declared interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that a parent's broader autism phenotype caused the child's autism phenotype or that this association can guide therapy. The study is observational, parental data were missing for some children, and several subgroup estimates were imprecise.