Early negative affect in males and females with fragile X syndrome: implications for anxiety and autism

BACKGROUND: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a genetic disorder that is highly comorbid with anxiety and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Elevated negative affect in young children has been associated with increased risk for both anxiety and ASD; however, these relations remain poorly understood in FXS. METHODS: The present prospective longitudinal study examined the trajectory of negative affect from infancy through preschool in males and females with FXS and typical development and its relation to anxiety and ASD. RESULTS: Results indicate a complex association reflecting group, developmental, and sex effects. Specifically, the group with FXS displayed a trajectory of increasing negative affect across age that was distinct from the typical controls. This atypical trajectory of negative affect in FXS was driven by sex effects in that males showed lower negative affect during infancy followed by steep increases across the toddler and preschool years whereas the females displayed a flatter trajectory. Finally, elevated negative affect predicted anxiety symptoms in males, but not females, with no relationship to ASD in males or females with FXS. CONCLUSIONS: The current work addresses the importance of studying the development of psychopathology in a specific neurogenetic population. Temperamental negative affect was shown to be an important early marker for anxiety in young children with FXS, with subtle differences observed between males and females.