scholarly journals Is there an association between prenatal testosterone and autistic traits in adolescents?

2022 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 105623
Author(s):  
Niamh Dooley ◽  
Amber Ruigrok ◽  
Rosemary Holt ◽  
Carrie Allison ◽  
Alexandros Tsompanidis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Prenatal Testosterone

scholarly journals The Effects of Siblings and Twin Testosterone Transfer on Autistic Traits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Monica de Wit ◽  
Sander Begeer ◽  
Michel Guillaume Nivard ◽  
Elsje van Bergen
Keyword(s):  
Neural Development ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
The Body ◽  
Prenatal Testosterone ◽  
Twin Sister ◽  
Twin Brother ◽  
Dizygotic Twins ◽  
High Heritability

Background: Having twin and non-twin siblings might influence autistic traits both prenatally and postnatally. The twin testosterone transfer hypothesis suggests that girls with a twin brother are exposed to higher levels of prenatal testosterone than girls with a twin sister. Prenatally, increased testosterone exposure could masculinize neural development and increase autistic traits. Postnatally, siblings may provide example behaviour, which could reduce autistic traits. Methods: We studied pre- and postnatal influences of twin and non-twin siblings on (mother and teacher-reported) autistic traits in 7,714 dizygotic twins. We examined the effect of gender of the proband child and of the siblings. We fitted regression models (for boys and girls separately) with as predictors sex of co-twin and having older and/or younger siblings. Results: Prenatally, girls’ (mother-reported) autistic traits were slightly lower for those with a twin brother than those with a twin sister, β = -.08, p = .001. This difference was not replicated in teacher-reported autistic traits, β = .01, p = .734. Boys’ (mother and teacher-reported) autistic traits were not related to the sex of their cotwin, p’s > .05. Postnatally, girls’ teacher-reported autistic traits were slightly higher if they had an older brother, β = .07, p = .013. Other than this small effect, girls’ autistic traits were not related to having siblings. Likewise, boys’ autistic traits were not related to having siblings. Conclusions: We do not find increased autistic traits in girls with a twin brother compared to a twin sister. This finding contributes to the body of literature that rejects the twin testosterone transfer hypothesis. In all, we find little evidence for pre- and postnatal sibling influences. Besides, our findings suggest that parent reports on autistic traits in twins might be slightly biased. Our findings align with ASD’s high heritability and absence of shared-environmental influences.

Do "Autistic" Traits Predict Audiovisual Integration in Speech Perception?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph D. W. Stephens ◽  
Julian L. Scrivens ◽  
Amy A. Overman
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Audiovisual Integration

Camouflaging in non-autistic adults is associated with poorer mental health

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Somerville ◽  
Sarah E. MacPherson ◽  
Sue Fletcher-Watson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Mental Health Symptoms ◽  
Health Symptoms ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Autistic Adults ◽  
The Relationship

Camouflaging is a frequently reported behaviour in autistic people, which entails the use of strategies to compensate for and mask autistic traits in social situations. Camouflaging is associated with poor mental health in autistic people. This study examined the manifestation of camouflaging in a non-autistic sample, examining the relationship between autistic traits, camouflaging, and mental health. In addition, the role of executive functions as a mechanism underpinning camouflaging was explored. Sixty-three non-autistic adults completed standardised self-report questionnaires which measured: autistic traits, mental health symptoms, and camouflaging behaviours. In addition, a subset (n=51) completed three tests of executive function measuring inhibition, working memory, and set-shifting. Multiple linear regression models were used to analyse data. Results indicated that autistic traits are not associated with mental health symptoms when controlling for camouflaging, and camouflaging predicted increased mental health symptoms. Camouflaging did not correlate with any measure of executive function. These findings have implications for understanding the relationship between autistic traits and mental health in non-autistic people and add to the growing development of theory and knowledge about the mechanism and effects of camouflaging.

scholarly journals Developmental trajectories of autistic social traits in the general population

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Richard Pender ◽  
Pasco Fearon ◽  
Beate St Pourcain ◽  
Jon Heron ◽  
Will Mandy
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Growth Mixture Modelling ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Social Difficulties ◽  
Autism Trait

Abstract Background Autistic people show diverse trajectories of autistic traits over time, a phenomenon labelled ‘chronogeneity’. For example, some show a decrease in symptoms, whilst others experience an intensification of difficulties. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a dimensional condition, representing one end of a trait continuum that extends throughout the population. To date, no studies have investigated chronogeneity across the full range of autistic traits. We investigated the nature and clinical significance of autism trait chronogeneity in a large, general population sample. Methods Autistic social/communication traits (ASTs) were measured in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children using the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) at ages 7, 10, 13 and 16 (N = 9744). We used Growth Mixture Modelling (GMM) to identify groups defined by their AST trajectories. Measures of ASD diagnosis, sex, IQ and mental health (internalising and externalising) were used to investigate external validity of the derived trajectory groups. Results The selected GMM model identified four AST trajectory groups: (i) Persistent High (2.3% of sample), (ii) Persistent Low (83.5%), (iii) Increasing (7.3%) and (iv) Decreasing (6.9%) trajectories. The Increasing group, in which females were a slight majority (53.2%), showed dramatic increases in SCDC scores during adolescence, accompanied by escalating internalising and externalising difficulties. Two-thirds (63.6%) of the Decreasing group were male. Conclusions Clinicians should note that for some young people autism-trait-like social difficulties first emerge during adolescence accompanied by problems with mood, anxiety, conduct and attention. A converse, majority-male group shows decreasing social difficulties during adolescence.

scholarly journals Use of Machine Learning to Investigate the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) towards Early Autism Screening

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 574
Author(s):  
Gennaro Tartarisco ◽  
Giovanni Cicceri ◽  
Davide Di Pietro ◽  
Elisa Leonardi ◽  
Stefania Aiello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Classification Performance ◽  
Recursive Feature Elimination ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
K Nearest Neighbors ◽  
Autism Screening

In the past two decades, several screening instruments were developed to detect toddlers who may be autistic both in clinical and unselected samples. Among others, the Quantitative CHecklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) is a quantitative and normally distributed measure of autistic traits that demonstrates good psychometric properties in different settings and cultures. Recently, machine learning (ML) has been applied to behavioral science to improve the classification performance of autism screening and diagnostic tools, but mainly in children, adolescents, and adults. In this study, we used ML to investigate the accuracy and reliability of the Q-CHAT in discriminating young autistic children from those without. Five different ML algorithms (random forest (RF), naïve Bayes (NB), support vector machine (SVM), logistic regression (LR), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN)) were applied to investigate the complete set of Q-CHAT items. Our results showed that ML achieved an overall accuracy of 90%, and the SVM was the most effective, being able to classify autism with 95% accuracy. Furthermore, using the SVM–recursive feature elimination (RFE) approach, we selected a subset of 14 items ensuring 91% accuracy, while 83% accuracy was obtained from the 3 best discriminating items in common to ours and the previously reported Q-CHAT-10. This evidence confirms the high performance and cross-cultural validity of the Q-CHAT, and supports the application of ML to create shorter and faster versions of the instrument, maintaining high classification accuracy, to be used as a quick, easy, and high-performance tool in primary-care settings.

scholarly journals Diachronic Tendency and Thinking Style Across the Broader Autism Spectrum: Sources of Individual Differences?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stian Orm ◽  
Ella Holt Holmberg ◽  
Paul L. Harris ◽  
Maria Nunez ◽  
Francisco Pons
Keyword(s):  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Broader Autism Phenotype ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Inner Speech ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Thinking Style ◽  
Mental Images ◽  
High School Degree ◽  
Future Events

Abstract Objectives First, to see whether previous studies showing a limited capacity to spontaneously evoke the past and the future of a present moment (diachronic tendency) and a prevalence of mental images over inner speech (thinking style) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder could be replicated in individuals belonging to the broader autism phenotype. Second, to test the hypothesis that individuals thinking with mental images have a more limited diachronic tendency compared with individuals thinking with inner speech. Methods Adults (N = 309, Mage = 31.5 years, 76% women) with at least a high school degree were assessed with the Autism Spectrum Quotient, a test of diachronic tendency comprising four pictures varying in social interactivity and dynamicity, and a thinking style scale comprising three items representing three different everyday situations. Results The results showed that adults with many autistic traits have a limited diachronic tendency but only when the situation is socially interactive and dynamic, think more in mental images than individuals with no or few autistic traits but nevertheless still think more with inner speech than with mental images, and the more the participants reported thinking in inner speech, the more they evoked past and future events when describing a socially interactive and dynamic situation. Conclusions More autistic traits are associated with a limited diachronic tendency in socially interactive and dynamic situations and more thinking in mental images, and thinking style could be one of the determinants of diachronic tendency in socially interactive and dynamic situations.

scholarly journals Less Illusion of a Just World in People with Formally Diagnosed Autism and Higher Autistic Traits

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Bertrams
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Autism Diagnosis ◽  
Just World ◽  
External Locus ◽  
General Belief ◽  
Autistic People

AbstractPeople differ in how strongly they believe that, in general, one gets what (s)he deserves (i.e., individual differences in the general belief in a just world). In this study (N = 588; n = 60 with a formal autism diagnosis), whether or not autistic people and those with high autistic traits have a relatively low general belief in a just world is examined. The results revealed the expected relationship between autism/higher autistic traits and a lower general belief in a just world. In a subsample (n = 388), personal belief in a just world, external locus of control, and self-deception mediated this relationship. These findings are discussed in terms of autistic strengths (less biased information processing) and problems (lowered well-being).

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