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Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study

Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) regularly co-occur. Twin studies increasingly indicate that these conditions may have overlapping genetic causes. Less is known about the degree to which specific autistic traits relate to specific behaviours charac...

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Autores principales: Taylor, Mark J., Charman, Tony, Ronald, Angelica
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4554745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25600178
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0666-0
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author Taylor, Mark J.
Charman, Tony
Ronald, Angelica
author_facet Taylor, Mark J.
Charman, Tony
Ronald, Angelica
author_sort Taylor, Mark J.
collection PubMed
description Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) regularly co-occur. Twin studies increasingly indicate that these conditions may have overlapping genetic causes. Less is known about the degree to which specific autistic traits relate to specific behaviours characteristic of ADHD. We hence tested, using the classical twin design, whether specific dimensional autistic traits, including social difficulties, communication atypicalities and repetitive behaviours, would display differential degrees of aetiological overlap with specific traits of ADHD, including hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention. Parents of approximately 4,000 pairs of 12-year-old twins completed the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test and Conners’ Parent Rating Scale. These measures were divided into subscales corresponding to different types of autistic and ADHD behaviours. Twin model fitting suggested that the degree of genetic overlap was particularly strong between communication difficulties and traits of ADHD (genetic correlations = .47−.51), while repetitive behaviours and social difficulties showed moderate (genetic correlations = .12−.33) and modest (.05−.11) genetic overlap respectively. Environmental overlap was low across all subscales (correlations = .01−.23). These patterns were also apparent at the extremes of the general population, with communication difficulties showing the highest genetic overlap with traits of ADHD. These findings indicate that molecular genetic studies seeking to uncover the shared genetic basis of ASC and ADHD would benefit from taking a symptom-specific approach. Furthermore, they could also help to explain why studies of the communication abilities of individuals with ASC and ADHD have produced overlapping findings. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0666-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-45547452015-09-04 Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study Taylor, Mark J. Charman, Tony Ronald, Angelica Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Original Contribution Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) regularly co-occur. Twin studies increasingly indicate that these conditions may have overlapping genetic causes. Less is known about the degree to which specific autistic traits relate to specific behaviours characteristic of ADHD. We hence tested, using the classical twin design, whether specific dimensional autistic traits, including social difficulties, communication atypicalities and repetitive behaviours, would display differential degrees of aetiological overlap with specific traits of ADHD, including hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention. Parents of approximately 4,000 pairs of 12-year-old twins completed the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test and Conners’ Parent Rating Scale. These measures were divided into subscales corresponding to different types of autistic and ADHD behaviours. Twin model fitting suggested that the degree of genetic overlap was particularly strong between communication difficulties and traits of ADHD (genetic correlations = .47−.51), while repetitive behaviours and social difficulties showed moderate (genetic correlations = .12−.33) and modest (.05−.11) genetic overlap respectively. Environmental overlap was low across all subscales (correlations = .01−.23). These patterns were also apparent at the extremes of the general population, with communication difficulties showing the highest genetic overlap with traits of ADHD. These findings indicate that molecular genetic studies seeking to uncover the shared genetic basis of ASC and ADHD would benefit from taking a symptom-specific approach. Furthermore, they could also help to explain why studies of the communication abilities of individuals with ASC and ADHD have produced overlapping findings. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0666-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2015-01-20 2015 /pmc/articles/PMC4554745/ /pubmed/25600178 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0666-0 Text en © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
spellingShingle Original Contribution
Taylor, Mark J.
Charman, Tony
Ronald, Angelica
Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study
title Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study
title_full Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study
title_fullStr Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study
title_full_unstemmed Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study
title_short Where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of ADHD? evidence from a community-based twin study
title_sort where are the strongest associations between autistic traits and traits of adhd? evidence from a community-based twin study
topic Original Contribution
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4554745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25600178
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0666-0
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