Other Family Studies
A 1994 study looked at the personalities of parents of autistic children, using parents of children with Down's syndrome as controls. Using standardized tests it was found that parents of autistic children were "more aloof, untactful and unresponsive."
A 1997 study found higher rates of social and communication deficits and stereotyped behaviors in families with multiple-incidence autism.
Autism was found to occur more often in families of physicists, engineers and scientists. 12.5% of the fathers and 21.2% of the grandfathers (both paternal and maternal) of children with autism were engineers, compared to 5% of the fathers and 2.5% of the grandfathers of children with other syndromes. Other studies have yielded similar results. Findings of this nature have led to the coinage of the term "geek syndrome".
A 2001 study of brothers and parents of autistic boys looked into the phenotype in terms of one current cognitive theory of autism. The study raised the possibility that the broader autism phenotype may include a "cognitive style" (weak central coherence) that can confer information-processing advantages.
A study in 2005 showed a positive correlation between repetitive behaviors in autistic individuals and obsessive-compulsive behaviors in parents. Another 2005 study focused on sub-threashold autistic traits in the general population. It found that correlation for social impairment or competence between parents and their children and between spouses is about 0.4.
A 2005 report examined the family psychiatric history of 58 subjects with Asperger syndrome (AS) diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. Three (5%) had first-degree relatives with AS. Nine (19%) had a family history of schizophrenia. Thirty five (60%) had a family history of depression. Out of 64 siblings, 4 (6.25%) were diagnosed with AS.
Read more about this topic: Heritability Of Autism
Famous quotes containing the words family and/or studies:
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—Gloria Steinem (20th century)
“What happiness did poor Mother’s studies bring her? It is the melancholy tendency of such studies to separate people from their friends and neighbors and fellow creatures in whom alone lies one’s happiness.”
—Mary Potter Playne (c. 1850–?)