Shared familial transmission of autism spectrum and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorders Article

Musser, ED, Hawkey, E, Kachan-Liu, SS et al. (2014). Shared familial transmission of autism spectrum and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorders . JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY, 55(7), 819-827. 10.1111/jcpp.12201

cited authors

  • Musser, ED; Hawkey, E; Kachan-Liu, SS; Lees, P; Roullet, JB; Goddard, K; Steiner, RD; Nigg, JT

authors

abstract

  • 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. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

publication date

  • January 1, 2014

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 819

end page

  • 827

volume

  • 55

issue

  • 7