Are Autistic Traits in Youth Meaningful?

NEW YORK - July 18, 2016 - PRLog -- Both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to have strong genetic elements. Individuals with ADHD may manifest different forms of ASD, from a fully developed to a milder appearance in a form of autistic traits. This fact was interesting to the group of researchers working at MGH of Harvard Medical School, who decided to focus their studies on possible correlation between those two disorders.

In the first study that the scientist conducted, they had focused on the findings reporting that children with already diagnosed ADHD have also a high dominance of autistic traits. Those autistics characteristics are directly related to more mental problems and to general difficulties in communication and social interaction.

In order to learn more about this correlation, the researchers decided to continue that topic and in the new study aimed to determine how common are those autistic characteristic in siblings, and whether a further linkage can be proven. The scientists compared two groups of children: in the first group there were youth of siblings with verified ADHD, whereas the second group was free from the disorder. Scholars looked at various measures, including social interactions, ability to understand one's emotions and feelings, remembering, language, attention or competence to complete specific tasks depending on the level of education.

The investigation suggested an association between ADHD in one sibling and autistic traits in the other sibling. When one sibling suffered from ADHD disorder and autistic traits at the same time, the other one had commonly a greater mental disorder, more educational and behavior problems, difficulties in responding to the environment or establishing and maintaining relationships. When one sibling suffered only from ADHD, the other one was a lot less impaired.

"It seems that autistic traits are more common in siblings of youths with ADHD than without ADHD", said Dr. Joseph Biederman who conducts clinical and research programs in Pediatric Psychopharmacology and Adult ADHD at the Massachusetts General Hospital. "The correlation with attention disorders and autism can help to explain why children with autistic traits tend to also exhibit higher levels of behavioral and emotional dysfunction. As a result, these children often have difficulties with social interaction and ability to do well in school."

The original article is fully available for reading at: http://www.exeley.com/sj_child_adolescent_psychiatry_psyc...

DOI: 10.21307/sjcapp-2016-012

About SCJAPP journal:

The Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (SJCAPP) is an Open Access, scientific journal of research and practice covering a broad scope of high value articles in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology. The journal publishes quantitative and qualitative research on: diagnosis, assessment, psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatments, behavior, cognition, epidemiology, development, training, cross cultural issues, neuroscience and genetic aspects related to mental disorders in children, adolescents and families.

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Exeley Inc. is a newly incorporated publishing start-up specialized in the publication of Open Access journals that was officially launched as of the 1st of June 2016. The New York based company combines expertise and best practices with the most advanced technological solutions currently available on the market. Amongst the technological solutions delivered, the functionalities include responsive webpage design and social media integration and performance metrics.