CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 68Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGenetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersFamily and Disability Support Research

Can family affectedness inform infant sibling outcomes of autism spectrum disorders?

Open access
Schwichtenberg, A.J., Young, G.S., Sigman, M., Hutman, T., Ozonoff, S.·2010·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
DOI 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02267.xPMC PMC2922056
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Background: Difficulties in communication and reciprocal social behavior are core features of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and are often present, to varying degrees, in other family members. This prospective longitudinal infant sibling study examines whether social‐communicative features of family members may inform which infants are at increased risk for ASD and other developmental concerns. Method: Two hundred and seventeen families participated in this study. Infant siblings were recruited from families with at least one older child diagnosed with an ASD ( n = 135) or at least one typically developing older child ( n = 82). Families completed the Social Responsiveness Scale to assess social and communication features of the broader autism phenotype (BAP), sometimes called quantitative autistic traits (QAT). Family affectedness was assessed in two ways: categorically, based on number of affected older siblings (i.e., typical, simplex, multiplex risk groups) and dimensionally, by assessing varying degrees of QAT in all family members. Infant siblings were assessed at 36 months of age and completed the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Results: In structural equation models, comparisons between multiplex, simplex and typical groups revealed the highest rates of QAT in the multiplex group followed by the simplex and typical groups. Infant sibling outcomes were predicted by gender, family risk group, proband QAT, and additional sibling QAT. Conclusions: Replicating previous cross‐sectional and family history findings, the present study found elevated social and communication features of the BAP in siblings and fathers of ASD families, but not in mothers. While social and communication features of the BAP in mothers, fathers, and undiagnosed siblings did not predict infant sibling outcomes, having more than one affected older sibling did. Infant siblings from multiplex families were at significantly higher risk for ASD than infant siblings from simplex families in this sample.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02267.x

Cites

39 of 39 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • High-risk siblings from multiplex families exhibit higher levels of autism spectrum disorder-related characteristics than high-risk siblings who have a single older sibling with an autism spectrum disorder.

    “Likewise, there is accumulating evidence that HR siblings from multiplex families exhibit higher levels of ASD-related characteristics17,19,20 than do HR siblings who have a single older sibling with an ASD.”

    From Beyond Autism: A Baby Siblings Research Consortium Study of High-Risk Children at Three Years of Age (2013) · cites this paper as [17]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Schwichtenberg, A. J., Young, G. S., Sigman, M., Hutman, T., & Ozonoff, S.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Davis (US)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2010-08-12
Volume
51
Issue
9
Pages
1021-1030
ISSN
  • 0021-9630 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-7610
DOI
10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02267.x
PMC
PMC2922056
OpenAlex
W1545886282
Cited by
67
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 8
FWCI
3.49
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH068398, MH068172, MH068398, T32MH073124, U54MH068172)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, infant siblings, broader autism phenotype, multiplex families, simplex families, social communication, fathers, mothers, gender differences
MeSH terms
Analysis of Variance, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Child, Preschool, Communication, Family, Fathers, Female, Humans, Infant, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mothers, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Social Behavior, Sex Distribution, Infant Behavior, Siblings

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review