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Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits

Altered immune functioning has been demonstrated in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study explores the relationship between perceived immune functioning and experiencing ASD traits in healthy young adults. N = 410 students from Utrecht University completed a survey on im...

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Autores principales: Mackus, Marlou, de Kruijff, Deborah, Otten, Leila S., Kraneveld, Aletta D., Garssen, Johan, Verster, Joris C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409610/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28417950
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040409
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author Mackus, Marlou
de Kruijff, Deborah
Otten, Leila S.
Kraneveld, Aletta D.
Garssen, Johan
Verster, Joris C.
author_facet Mackus, Marlou
de Kruijff, Deborah
Otten, Leila S.
Kraneveld, Aletta D.
Garssen, Johan
Verster, Joris C.
author_sort Mackus, Marlou
collection PubMed
description Altered immune functioning has been demonstrated in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study explores the relationship between perceived immune functioning and experiencing ASD traits in healthy young adults. N = 410 students from Utrecht University completed a survey on immune functioning and autistic traits. In addition to a 1-item perceived immune functioning rating, the Immune Function Questionnaire (IFQ) was completed to assess perceived immune functioning. The Dutch translation of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) was completed to examine variation in autistic traits, including the domains “social insights and behavior”, “difficulties with change”, “communication”, “phantasy and imagination”, and “detail orientation”. The 1-item perceived immune functioning score did not significantly correlate with the total AQ score. However, a significant negative correlation was found between perceived immune functioning and the AQ subscale “difficulties with change” (r = −0.119, p = 0.019). In women, 1-item perceived immune functioning correlated significantly with the AQ subscales “difficulties with change” (r = −0.149, p = 0.029) and “communication” (r = −0.145, p = 0.032). In men, none of the AQ subscales significantly correlated with 1-item perceived immune functioning. In conclusion, a modest relationship between perceived immune functioning and several autistic traits was found.
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spelling pubmed-54096102017-05-03 Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits Mackus, Marlou de Kruijff, Deborah Otten, Leila S. Kraneveld, Aletta D. Garssen, Johan Verster, Joris C. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Altered immune functioning has been demonstrated in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study explores the relationship between perceived immune functioning and experiencing ASD traits in healthy young adults. N = 410 students from Utrecht University completed a survey on immune functioning and autistic traits. In addition to a 1-item perceived immune functioning rating, the Immune Function Questionnaire (IFQ) was completed to assess perceived immune functioning. The Dutch translation of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) was completed to examine variation in autistic traits, including the domains “social insights and behavior”, “difficulties with change”, “communication”, “phantasy and imagination”, and “detail orientation”. The 1-item perceived immune functioning score did not significantly correlate with the total AQ score. However, a significant negative correlation was found between perceived immune functioning and the AQ subscale “difficulties with change” (r = −0.119, p = 0.019). In women, 1-item perceived immune functioning correlated significantly with the AQ subscales “difficulties with change” (r = −0.149, p = 0.029) and “communication” (r = −0.145, p = 0.032). In men, none of the AQ subscales significantly correlated with 1-item perceived immune functioning. In conclusion, a modest relationship between perceived immune functioning and several autistic traits was found. MDPI 2017-04-12 2017-04 /pmc/articles/PMC5409610/ /pubmed/28417950 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040409 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Mackus, Marlou
de Kruijff, Deborah
Otten, Leila S.
Kraneveld, Aletta D.
Garssen, Johan
Verster, Joris C.
Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits
title Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits
title_full Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits
title_fullStr Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits
title_full_unstemmed Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits
title_short Differential Gender Effects in the Relationship between Perceived Immune Functioning and Autistic Traits
title_sort differential gender effects in the relationship between perceived immune functioning and autistic traits
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409610/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28417950
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040409
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