Hallett Victoria, Ronald Angelica, Happé Francesca
Ms. Hallett and Dr. Happé are with the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London; and Dr. Ronald is with the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, School of Psychology, Birkbeck College.
Ms. Hallett and Dr. Happé are with the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London; and Dr. Ronald is with the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, School of Psychology, Birkbeck College.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2009 Jun;48(6):618-627. doi: 10.1097/CHI.0b013e31819f7116.
Recent research has suggested that children with autistic spectrum disorders often experience comorbid symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, despite this overlap, no quantitative genetic studies have addressed the phenotypic overlap and the etiologic association between internalizing and autistic-like traits within the general population. This study aimed to investigate the phenotypic and etiologic relation between internalizing and autistic-like traits using a community-based twin sample.
We investigated the co-occurrence of these traits in a population-based sample of 3,233 twin pairs aged 8 to 9 years, using both parent- and teacher-report questionnaires. Bivariate structural equation modeling techniques were used to determine the extent to which internalizing and autistic-like traits shared common genetic and environmental influences.
Our results showed that there was a modest phenotypic correlation (r = 0.26-0.29) between autistic-like and internalizing traits. The traits were both substantially heritable but were largely independent with regard to their genetic influences (r(G) = 0.12-0.19). Shared environmental influences were modest but were largely common to both traits. Similar results were found using both parent- and teacher-reported data.
Internalizing and autistic-like traits showed moderate phenotypic overlap within the general population. This association was explained in small part by shared genetic factors, but the results suggested that most genetic influences were specific to either internalizing traits or autistic traits. Given these findings, we discuss the potential mechanisms that may underlie the relation between these traits.
近期研究表明，患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童常伴有焦虑和抑郁的共病症状。然而，尽管存在这种重叠现象，但尚无定量遗传学研究探讨一般人群中内化性特质与自闭症样特质之间的表型重叠及病因关联。本研究旨在利用基于社区的双胞胎样本，调查内化性特质与自闭症样特质之间的表型及病因关系。
我们使用父母和教师报告问卷，对3233对8至9岁的双胞胎进行了基于人群的样本调查，以研究这些特质的共现情况。采用双变量结构方程建模技术，确定内化性特质与自闭症样特质在多大程度上共享共同的遗传和环境影响。
我们的结果表明，自闭症样特质与内化性特质之间存在适度的表型相关性（r = 0.26 - 0.29）。这些特质在很大程度上都具有遗传性，但在遗传影响方面基本独立（r(G) = 0.12 - 0.19）。共享环境影响较小，但在两种特质中基本相同。使用父母和教师报告的数据均得到了类似结果。
内化性特质与自闭症样特质在一般人群中表现出适度的表型重叠。这种关联在一定程度上由共享遗传因素解释，但结果表明，大多数遗传影响对内化性特质或自闭症特质具有特异性。基于这些发现，我们讨论了这些特质之间关系可能潜在的机制。
