Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
ARTICLESPregnancy and Birth Complications in Autism and Liability to the Broader Autism Phenotype
Section snippets
Sample
The sample for this study consists of a series of families with at least one child who is affected with an autism spectrum disorder. Families with two or more affected children (multiplex) were recruited systematically across the province of Ontario (for full details, see Mahoney et al., 1998), and families with one affected child were taken from a consecutively referred clinic sample. For inclusion, families were required to include at least one unaffected sibling, so that analyses involving
Sample
Excluding those multiplex families with no unaffected siblings for comparison, there was a total of 60 families, including 78 affected and 88 unaffected children (whose characteristics are summarized in Table 1). Family loading data were available for 43 families (including 55 affected and 68 unaffected); the remaining families were excluded from analyses involving this variable. There were a total of 444 second-degree relatives and 514 third-degree relatives. There were an additional 43
DISCUSSION
This report contributes to evidence for an association between obstetric optimality and autism spectrum disorder, and it tests contrasting hypotheses regarding potential mechanisms. The main findings are that (1) individuals with PDD had lower obstetric optimality (greater adversity during pregnancy and birth) than did their unaffected siblings, even after we controlled for birth order; (2) family loading for the broader autism phenotype was associated with optimality in unaffected siblings of
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2021, Journal of Psychiatric ResearchCitation Excerpt :Previous studies have calculated an “optimality score” from the obstetric histories of mothers to determine the severity and number of obstetric complications. This score was shown to be significantly associated with the number of autistic symptoms (Bolton et al., 1997; Deb et al., 1997; Zwaigenbaum et al., 2002). Pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia, albuminuria, generalized oedema, and parental depression were shown to be associated with more severe deficits of children with ASD in communication and/or severe repetitive behaviour assessed by the ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised) (Wallace et al., 2008).
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2013, Research in Autism Spectrum DisordersCitation Excerpt :Although significant genetic links have been found, with evidence from monozygotic twin and family studies showing concordance rates for ASDs at least up to 60 percent and a familial risk 5–10 times higher than that for the general population (Bailey et al., 1995; Rutter, 2000; Szatmari, 1999), the underlying etiology of ASDs is still unknown. Many different theories researching the biological basis of ASDs have been suggested, including multiple genetic mutation, chromosomal abnormalities, epiphenomena (pre- and peri-natal complications interact with genetic factors), and immune hypotheses (Ashwood & Van de Water, 2004; Brimacombe, Ming, & Lamendola, 2007; Kolevzon, Gross, & Reichenberg, 2007; Newschaffer, Fallin, & Lee, 2002; Santangelo & Tsatsanis, 2005; Zwaigenbaum et al., 2002). Similar to the substantially increased prevalence of ASDs worldwide over the last few decades, the prevalence rates of asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), and atopic dermatitis (AD) have risen gradually and simultaneously.
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At the time of this work, Dr. Zwaigenbaum was supported by a Duncan L. Gordon Fellowship from the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation and a New Investigator Fellowship from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. This work is supported by grant 11350 from the Medical Research Council of Canada.