Autistic-like traits and their association with mental health problems in two nationwide twin cohorts of children and adults
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Autistic-like traits (ALTs), that is restrictions in intuitive social interaction, communication and flexibility of interests and behaviors, were studied in two population-based Swedish twin studies, one in children and one in adults: (1) to examine whether the variability in ALTs is a meaningful risk factor for concomitant attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, conduct problems, depression and substance abuse, and (2) to assess whether common genetic and environmental susceptibilities can help to explain co-existence of ALTs and traits associated with such concomitant problems. METHOD: Two nationwide twin cohorts from Sweden (consisting of 11 222 children and 18 349 adults) were assessed by DSM-based symptom algorithms for autism. The twins were divided into six groups based on their degree of ALTs and the risk for concomitant mental health problems was calculated for each group. Genetic and environmental susceptibilities common to ALTs and the other problem types were examined using bivariate twin modeling. RESULTS: In both cohorts, even the lowest degree of ALTs increased the risk for all other types of mental health problems, and these risk estimates increased monotonically with the number of ALTs. For all conditions, common genetic and environmental factors could be discerned. Overall, the phenotypic correlation between ALTs and the traits examined were less pronounced in adulthood than in childhood and less affected by genetic compared with environmental factors. CONCLUSIONS: Even low-grade ALTs are relevant to clinical psychiatry as they increase the risk for several heterotypical mental health problems. The association is influenced partly by common genetic and environmental susceptibilities. Attention to co-existing ALTs is warranted in research on a wide range of mental disorders.
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Early adverse childhood experiences, family conflict, low socioeconomic status, and neglect predict more severe ADHD trajectories and greater comorbidity.
“Early adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), family conflict, low socioeconomic status, and neglect predict more severe ADHD trajectories and greater comorbidity”
From ADHD in Adulthood: Clinical Presentation, Comorbidities, and Treatment Perspectives (2025) · cites this paper as [65]
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- Authors
- Lundström, S., Chang, Z., Kerekes, N., Gumpert, C. H., Råstam, M., Gillberg, C., Lichtenstein, P., & Anckarsäter, H.
- Affiliations
- Swedish Prison and Probation Service (SE)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Lund University (SE)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Lundström, S.
- Venue
- Psychological Medicine
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2011-03-22
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 2423-2433
- ISSN
- 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8978
- OpenAlex
- W2097088565
- Cited by
- 174
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 5.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- lup.lub.lu.se
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute (R01CA085739, CA-085739, K07CA118412, CA118412)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- autistic traits, mental illness, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, conduct problems, depression, substance abuse, genetic susceptibility, environmental sensitivity, comorbidities, children, adults, twin cohort
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Mental Disorders, Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Depressive Disorder, Diseases in Twins, Female, Humans, Male, Risk, Sweden, Cohort Studies, Comorbidity, Substance-Related Disorders, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Gene-Environment Interaction
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