Childhood Academic Performance: A Potential Marker of Genetic Liability to Autism

Janna Guilfoyle; Molly Winston; John Sideris; Gary E. Martin; Kritika Nayar; Lauren Bush; Tom Wassink; Molly Losh

doi:10.1007/s10803-022-05459-5

Childhood Academic Performance: A Potential Marker of Genetic Liability to Autism

Janna Guilfoyle, Molly Winston, John Sideris, Gary E. Martin, Kritika Nayar, Lauren Bush, Tom Wassink, Molly Losh^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a heritable neurodevelopmental disorder, confers genetic liability that is often expressed among relatives through subclinical, genetically-meaningful traits, or endophenotypes. For instance, relative to controls, parents of individuals with ASD differ in language-related skills, with differences emerging in childhood. To examine ASD-related endophenotypes, this study investigated developmental academic profiles among clinically unaffected siblings of individuals with ASD (n = 29). Lower performance in language-related skills among siblings mirrored previously-reported patterns among parents, which were also associated with greater subclinical ASD-related traits in themselves and their parents, and with greater symptom severity in their sibling with ASD. Findings demonstrated specific phenotypes, derived from standardized academic testing, that may represent childhood indicators of genetic liability to ASD in first-degree relatives.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1989-2005
Number of pages	17
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume	53
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05459-5
State	Published - May 2023

Funding

This study was funded by Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (Grant Nos. R01DC010191, R03MH107834, P30DC012035) to Molly Losh; National Science Foundation (Grant No. BCS-0820394) to Molly Losh; Autism Speaks (Grant No. 1337) to Molly Losh.

Keywords

Academics
Autism spectrum disorder
Broad autism phenotype
Endophenotype
Language

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental and Educational Psychology

Access to Document

10.1007/s10803-022-05459-5

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title = "Childhood Academic Performance: A Potential Marker of Genetic Liability to Autism",

abstract = "Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a heritable neurodevelopmental disorder, confers genetic liability that is often expressed among relatives through subclinical, genetically-meaningful traits, or endophenotypes. For instance, relative to controls, parents of individuals with ASD differ in language-related skills, with differences emerging in childhood. To examine ASD-related endophenotypes, this study investigated developmental academic profiles among clinically unaffected siblings of individuals with ASD (n = 29). Lower performance in language-related skills among siblings mirrored previously-reported patterns among parents, which were also associated with greater subclinical ASD-related traits in themselves and their parents, and with greater symptom severity in their sibling with ASD. Findings demonstrated specific phenotypes, derived from standardized academic testing, that may represent childhood indicators of genetic liability to ASD in first-degree relatives.",

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AU - Sideris, John

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AU - Bush, Lauren

AU - Wassink, Tom

AU - Losh, Molly

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Childhood Academic Performance: A Potential Marker of Genetic Liability to Autism

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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