Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:27:26.647Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - Aetiology of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

from Section 1 - An Overview: Definitions, Epidemiology and Policy Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2023

By
Jana de Villiers
Edited by
Jane M. McCarthy ,
Regi T. Alexander  and
Eddie Chaplin
Jane M. McCarthy
Affiliation:
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and University of Auckland
Regi T. Alexander
Affiliation:
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and University of Hertfordshire
Eddie Chaplin
Affiliation:
Institute of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University
Get access

Summary

Neurodevelopmental disorders is an umbrella term that incorporates a range of conditions characterised by some form of disruption to ‘typical’ brain development. These disorders share aetiological pathways that have genetic, social and environmental risk factors. Neurodevelopmental disorders often have core features in common and they frequently co-occur. Long-term impairment is characteristic, although key features may vary over the life span. This chapter covers key aspects of the aetiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular focusing on those found in forensic settings (such as autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder). The impact of genetic, social and environmental risk factors is considered. The chapter considers the aetiology of neurodevelopmental disorders as relevant to forensic settings.

Keywords

aetiologyneurodevelopmental disordersintellectual disabilityautismattention deficit and hyperactivity disorderfetal alcohol disordergeneticenvironmental factorsforensiccriminal justice
Type
Chapter
Information
Forensic Aspects of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
A Clinician's Guide
 , pp. 13 - 23
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Reed, GM, First, MB, Kogan, CS, Hyman, SE, Gureje, O, Gaebel, W, et al. Innovations and changes in the ICD-11 classification of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders. World Psychiatry 2019; 18(1): 3–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thapar, A, Cooper, M, Ruttern, M. Neurodevelopmental disorders. Lancet Psychiatry 2017; 4: 339–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirov, G, Rees, E, Walters, J. What a psychiatrist needs to know about copy number variants. BJPsych Advances 2015; 21: 157–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thygesen, JH, Wolfe, K, McQuillin, A, Viñas-Jornet, M, Baena, N, Brison, N, et al. Neurodevelopmental risk copy number variants in adults with intellectual disability and comorbid psychiatric disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 2018; 212: 287–94.Google Scholar
Cooper, SA, McLean, G, Guthrie, B, McConnachie, A, Mercer, S, Sullivan, F, et al. Multiple physical and mental health comorbidity in adults with intellectual disabilities: population-based cross-sectional analysis. BMC Family Practice 2015; 16: 110.Google Scholar
Schaefer, GB, Mendelsohn, NJ. Clinical genetics aspects of autism spectrum disorder. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2016; 17: 180.Google Scholar
Faraone, SV, Larsson, H. Genetics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Molecular Psychiatry 2019; 24: 562–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettersson, E, Larsson, H, Lichtenstein, P. Common psychiatric disorders share the same genetic origin: a multivariate sibling study of the Swedish population. Molelcular Psychiatry 2016; 21: 717–21.Google ScholarPubMed
Mukherjee, RAS, Cook, PA, Norgate, SH, Price, AD. Neurodevelopmental outcomes in individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) with and without exposure to neglect: clinical cohort data from a national FASD diagnostic clinic. Alcohol 2019; 76: 23–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sonuga-Barke, EJS, Kennedy, M, Kumsta, R, Knights, N, Golm, D, Rutter, M, et al. Child-to-adult neurodevelopmental and mental health trajectories after early life deprivation: the young adult follow-up of the longitudinal English and Romanian adoptees study. Lancet 2017; 389: 1539–48.Google Scholar
Trahan, LH, Stuebing, KK, Hiscock, MK, Fletcher, JM. The Flynn effect: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 2014; 140: 1332–60.Google Scholar
Flannigan, K, Pei, J, Stewart, M, Johnson, A. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and the criminal justice system: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 2017; 57: 42–52.Google Scholar
Heyer, DB, Meredith, RM. Environmental toxicology: sensitive periods of development and neurodevelopmental disorders. Neurotoxicology 2017; 58: 23–41.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×