Rodriguez-Perez Maria, Chandler Susie, Kennedy Mark, Charman Tony, Simonoff Emily, Sonuga-Barke Edmund
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Autism Res. 2025 May;18(5):1062-1076. doi: 10.1002/aur.70026. Epub 2025 Mar 26.
In the English and Romanian Adoptees study, a substantial proportion of adoptees who suffered extended severe deprivation (26 of 101) displayed autistic characteristics termed quasi-autism (QA). Here we directly compare this group with a community sample of early diagnosed autistic individuals (community autism; CA). First, we characterized the QA autism symptom profile (61.5% females) by calculating which of the 32 Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) items were statistically more common in the QA group than in a control group of 52 non-deprived UK adoptees (UK Control, 34.6% females) at ages 11, 15, and/or 23 years of age. The latent structure of these QA-characteristic items was explored using confirmatory factor analyses. Second, we compared the QA symptom profiles with CA profiles using a sample from the QUEST study (Salazar et al. 2015). To do this, we identified two QUEST groups, one aged 11 years on average (n = 21) and one aged 15 years (n = 24). The former were compared to ERA SCQ scores at age 11, and the latter at age 15. Nineteen SCQ items were statistically significantly more common in the QA group than in the ERA UK control group at ages 11 and 15. Ten differences persisted into adulthood. These QA-characteristic items ranged across and mapped onto all three standard SCQ domains (social reciprocity, communication, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors). The age 11 CA group scored higher than QA at 11 years across each subscale when all items were considered. However, when only QA-characteristic items were included, only scores for the Repetitive and Stereotyped subscale differentiated QA and CA. When the age 15 comparison was made, no differences were found between CA and QA subscales. QA and CA were associated with similar levels of emotional and conduct problems and overactivity/inattention levels. QA shared many features with CA. QA difficulties extended across all autism domains and were associated to a similar degree with emotional and behavioral problems. However, there were some distinctive elements. Compared to the classic autism profile, the communication domain mainly comprised persistent abnormalities of linguistic expression. In contrast, social reciprocity problems were diffuse, less severe, and declined over time. QA-characteristic repetitive and stereotyped behaviors are broadly expressed and endure into adulthood.
在“英国和罗马尼亚领养儿童研究”中，相当一部分遭受长期严重剥夺的领养儿童（101名中有26名）表现出被称为准自闭症（QA）的自闭症特征。在此，我们将这组儿童与早期诊断的自闭症个体的社区样本（社区自闭症；CA）进行直接比较。首先，我们通过计算在11岁、15岁和/或23岁时，32项社会沟通问卷（SCQ）项目中哪些在QA组中比52名未受剥夺的英国领养儿童对照组（英国对照组，女性占34.6%）在统计学上更常见，来描绘QA自闭症症状概况（女性占61.5%）。使用验证性因素分析探索这些QA特征项目的潜在结构。其次，我们使用来自QUEST研究（萨拉查等人，2015年）的样本，将QA症状概况与CA概况进行比较。为此，我们确定了两个QUEST组，一组平均年龄为11岁（n = 21），另一组为15岁（n = 24）。将前者与11岁时的ERA SCQ分数进行比较，后者与15岁时的进行比较。在11岁和15岁时，19项SCQ项目在QA组中比ERA英国对照组在统计学上更常见。其中10项差异持续到成年期。这些QA特征项目分布在所有三个标准SCQ领域（社会互动、沟通、重复和刻板行为）并与之对应。当考虑所有项目时，11岁的CA组在每个子量表上的得分在11岁时均高于QA组。然而，当仅纳入QA特征项目时，只有重复和刻板行为子量表的得分能区分QA和CA。在进行15岁的比较时，CA和QA子量表之间未发现差异。QA和CA与相似程度的情绪和行为问题以及多动/注意力不集中水平相关。QA与CA有许多共同特征。QA的困难涉及所有自闭症领域，并且在相似程度上与情绪和行为问题相关。然而，也有一些独特之处。与经典自闭症概况相比，沟通领域主要包括语言表达的持续性异常。相比之下，社会互动问题较为分散，不太严重，且会随着时间推移而减少。QA特征性的重复和刻板行为广泛存在并持续到成年期。
