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Developmental course of autistic social impairment in males

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2009

John N. Constantino ,
Anna M. Abbacchi ,
Patricia D. Lavesser ,
Hannah Reed ,
Leah Givens ,
Lily Chiang ,
Teddi Gray ,
Maggie Gross ,
Yi Zhang  and
Richard D. Todd
John N. Constantino*
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Anna M. Abbacchi
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Patricia D. Lavesser
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Hannah Reed
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Leah Givens
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Lily Chiang
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Teddi Gray
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Maggie Gross
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Yi Zhang
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
Richard D. Todd
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: John N. Constantino, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8134, St. Louis, MO 63110; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Recent research has suggested that autistic social impairment (ASI) is continuously distributed in nature and that subtle autistic-like social impairments aggregate in the family members of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). This study examined the longitudinal course of quantitatively characterized ASI in 3- to 18-year-old boys with and without PDD. We obtained assessments of 95 epidemiologically ascertained male–male twin pairs and a clinical sample of 95 affected children using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), at two time points, spaced 1–5 years apart. Longitudinal course was examined as a function of age, familial loading for PDD, and autistic severity at baseline. Interindividual variation in SRS scores was highly preserved over time, with test–retest correlation of 0.90 for the entire sample. SRS scores exhibited modest general improvement over the study period; individual trajectories varied as a function of severity at baseline and were highly familial. Quantitative measurements of ASI reflect heritable traitlike characteristics. Such measurements can serve as reliable indices of phenotypic severity for genetic and neurobiologic studies, and have potential utility for ascertaining incremental response to intervention.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 127 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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