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Cited by 198Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchDown syndrome and intellectual disability researchMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Obstetric Complications in Autism: Consequences or Causes of the Condition?

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BOLTON, PATRICK F., MURPHY, MARGARET, MACDONALD, HOPE, WHITLOCK, BETH, PICKLES, ANDREW, RUTTER, MICHAEL·1997·Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
DOI 10.1097/00004583-199702000-00018
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Abstract

Objective To determine whether and why obstetric complications are associated with autism.Method Obstetric histories, obtained at maternal interview and coded as an optimality score (OS), were compared in two groups: 78 families containing an autistic proband (ICD-10 criteria) and 27 families containing a down syndrome (DS) proband. The OS was examined in relation to offspring diagnosis, proband characteristics, and familial loading for autism and its phenotypic variants.Results Autistic and DS probands had a significantly elevated OS compared with unaffected siblings, regardless of birth order position. The elevation was mainly due to an increase in mild as opposed to severe obstetric adversities. In autistic probands, the OS was best predicted by familial loading for autism and its phenotypic variants, but in the absence of this measure by the number of autistic symptoms. Among siblings of autistic probands affected with autism or its variants, the OS was best predicted by the probands' OS, and in its absence, by the measure of familial loading. In DS probands and siblings the OS was associated with increased maternal age, although this did not account for the OS elevation in DS probands.Conclusions Rather than playing any principal etiological role, the obstetric adversities associated with autism either represent an epiphenomenon of the condition or derive from some shared risk factor(s).

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  • Reported autism-environment associations may not be causal; for example, there is doubt as to the causal role of obstetric complications, which are perhaps more likely to be epiphenomena of primary genetic risks.

    “Reported autism–environment associations may not be causal, for example there is doubt as to the causal role of obstetric complications, which are perhaps more likely to be epiphenomena of primary genetic risks [122].”

    From The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (2019) · cites this paper as [122]

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  1. Thomson AM, Barron SL (1983) . Perinatal Mortality in ObstetricalEpidemi- olog)'. London : Academic Press

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Authors
BOLTON, P. F., MURPHY, M., MACDONALD, H., WHITLOCK, B., PICKLES, A., & RUTTER, M.
Affiliations
University of Cambridge (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1997-02
Volume
36
Issue
2
Pages
272-281
ISSN
0890-8567 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1097/00004583-199702000-00018
OpenAlex
W1984619141
Cited by
198
References
31
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 11
FWCI
5.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Down syndrome and intellectual disability research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, pregnancy complications, Down syndrome, maternal age, birth order, autism etiology
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Autistic Disorder, Child, Child, Preschool, Family Health, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Causality, Chi-Square Distribution, Case-Control Studies

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