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A longitudinal follow‐up study of autistic symptoms in children and adults with duplications of 15q11‐13
Author(s) -
Simon Elliott W.,
HaasGivler Barbara,
Finucane Brenda
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
american journal of medical genetics part b: neuropsychiatric genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.393
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1552-485X
pISSN - 1552-4841
DOI - 10.1002/ajmg.b.31000
Subject(s) - autism , cohort , longitudinal study , psychology , cohort study , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , pediatrics , medicine , psychiatry , pathology
We completed a longitudinal follow‐up of autistic symptoms in a cohort of children and young adults with duplications of chromosome 15q11‐13. In our initial investigation of 29 individuals, tentative conclusions were drawn based on cross‐sectional data suggesting that autistic symptoms increased with age, most specifically in the area of social interaction. We were able to re‐assess 22 individuals from the original study an average of 7 years later using the same standardized autism screening measure. As predicted, autistic symptoms were found to increase for the younger children in the cohort but remained constant for the older participants. This global change in autistic symptoms among the younger children could not be ascribed to any particular autism subscale and reflects small but cumulatively significant increases across several domains. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.