Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, 1200 Main St. W, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2011 Oct;41(10):1321-9. doi: 10.1007/s10803-010-1158-9.
This study examined the phenotypic overlap between core diagnostic features and emotional/behavioral problems in a sample of 335 preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Results from principal component analysis (2 components; 49.70% variance explained) suggested substantial phenotypic overlap between core diagnostic features and emotional/behavioral problems. Component I, Emotional Behavioral Repetitive Problems, was independent of the children's intellectual, adaptive functioning, and structural language abilities. Component II, Social Communication Deficits, was negatively related to the children's intellectual, adaptive functioning, and structural language abilities. Both components were positively related to parental stress. This exploratory study contributes to our understanding of the ASD phenotype and provides further support for including emotional/behavioral problems as part of the clinical characterization of children with ASD.
本研究考察了在 335 名自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）学龄前儿童样本中，核心诊断特征与情绪/行为问题之间的表型重叠。主成分分析（2 个成分；解释方差 49.70%）的结果表明，核心诊断特征与情绪/行为问题之间存在大量表型重叠。成分 I：情绪行为重复问题，与儿童的智力、适应功能和结构语言能力无关。成分 II：社会沟通缺陷，与儿童的智力、适应功能和结构语言能力呈负相关。这两个成分都与父母的压力呈正相关。这项探索性研究有助于我们理解 ASD 的表型，并进一步支持将情绪/行为问题纳入 ASD 儿童的临床特征描述。
