Shared familial transmission of autism spectrum and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorders
Open accessAbstract
Background: To determine whether familial transmission is shared between autism spectrum disorders and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, we assessed the prevalence, rates of comorbidity, and familial transmission of both disorders in a large population‐based sample of children during a recent 7 year period. Methods: Study participants included all children born to parents with the Kaiser Permanente Northwest ( KPNW ) Health Plan between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2004 ( n = 35,073). Children and mothers with physician‐identified autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) and/or attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) were identified via electronic medical records maintained for all KPNW members. Results: Among children aged 6–12 years, prevalence was 2.0% for ADHD and 0.8% for ASD ; within those groups, 0.2% of the full sample (19% of the ASD sample and 9.6% of the ADHD sample) had co‐occurring ASD and ADHD , when all children were included. When mothers had a diagnosis of ADHD , first born offspring were at 6‐fold risk of ADHD alone ( OR = 5.02, p < .0001) and at 2.5‐fold risk of ASD alone ( OR = 2.52, p < .01). Results were not accounted for by maternal age, child gestational age, child gender, and child race. Conclusions: Autism spectrum disorders shares familial transmission with ADHD . ADHD and ASD have a partially overlapping diathesis.
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Working memory is a likely causal predictor of global IQ, and age-related improvements in working memory lead directly to improvements in IQ.
“working memory is a (likely causal) predictor of global IQ101–103 and age-related improvements in working memory lead directly to improvements in IQ.103”
From Executive function deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [101]
The Introduction discusses shared genetic and cognitive correlates of ADHD and autism, while the Results examine associations between maternal and child diagnoses (page numbers not provided). Searches for working memory as a predictor of IQ and for age-related working-memory improvements found no passage addressing either claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredWorking memory tests commonly used in clinical practice place relatively minimal demands on the executive components of working memory and may be better conceptualized as measures of short-term memory.
“We and others have also argued that the working memory tests commonly used in clinical practice place relatively minimal demands on the executive components of working memory and thus might be better conceptualized as measures of short term memory .53,101,130,132,133”
From Executive function deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [101]
The Methods describe diagnoses drawn from clinical records, and the Results examine familial transmission of ASD and ADHD. Neither those passages nor searches for working-memory tests, executive components, and short-term memory found a passage addressing the claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredHeritability of ASD and ADHD appears to overlap, with parents with ADHD having elevated rates of ASD offspring and siblings cross-aggregating within ADHD and ASD.
“Moreover, heritability of ASD and ADHD appears to overlap; for example, parents with ADHD have elevated rates of ASD offspring compared to parents without ADHD (Musser et al., 2014) and siblings cross aggregate within ADHD and ASD (Miller et al., 2019).”
From Heterogeneity of executive function revealed by a functional random forest approach across ADHD and ASD (2020) · cites this paper as Musser et al., 2014
ASD and ADHD share some etiological basis.
“These results indicate that while ASD and ADHD share some etiological basis, there may be more than one sole “cause” of any given phenotype (Musser et al., 2014; Reiersen & Todd, 2008) and such causes may also be shared and distinct, both between and within the disorders (Karalunas et al., 2018; Rommelse et al., 2017; Vaidya et al., 2020).”
From Heterogeneity of executive function revealed by a functional random forest approach across ADHD and ASD (2020) · cites this paper as Musser et al., 2014
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- Authors
- Musser, E. D., Hawkey, E., Kachan‐Liu, S. S., Lees, P., Roullet, J., Goddard, K., Steiner, R. D., & Nigg, J. T.
- Affiliations
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Kaiser Permanente (US)
- Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation (US)
- Corresponding author
- Musser, Erica D.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-01-21
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 819-827
- ISSN
- 0021-9630 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7610
- PMC
- PMC4211282
- OpenAlex
- W2117008480
- Cited by
- 97
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 6.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- NIMH (R01-MH59105)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, family transmission, comorbidities, offspring risk, prevalence, children
- MeSH terms
- Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Female, Humans, Male, Mothers, Northwestern United States, Comorbidity, Prevalence, Genetic Predisposition to Disease
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