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The Genetics of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Childhood.

Lichtenstein, Paul ; Carlström, Eva ; Råstam, Maria LU orcid ; Gillberg, Christopher and Anckarsäter, Henrik LU (2010) In American Journal of Psychiatry 167(11). p.1357-1363
Abstract
Objective: Autism spectrum disorders are considered to be among the most heritable mental disorders, a notion based on surprisingly sparse data from small clinical studies. Population-based studies of the heritability of other neuro-psychiatric disorders and comorbidities among them have also been sparse. The authors sought to address both of these issues. Method: Parents of all Swedish 9- and 12-year-old twin pairs born between 1992 and 2000 (N=10,895) were interviewed regarding autism spectrum disorders and associated conditions (response rate, 80%). Concordance rates and structural equation modeling were used for evaluating causes for familial aggregation and overlap between conditions. Results: Monozygotic twins had higher concordance... (More)
Objective: Autism spectrum disorders are considered to be among the most heritable mental disorders, a notion based on surprisingly sparse data from small clinical studies. Population-based studies of the heritability of other neuro-psychiatric disorders and comorbidities among them have also been sparse. The authors sought to address both of these issues. Method: Parents of all Swedish 9- and 12-year-old twin pairs born between 1992 and 2000 (N=10,895) were interviewed regarding autism spectrum disorders and associated conditions (response rate, 80%). Concordance rates and structural equation modeling were used for evaluating causes for familial aggregation and overlap between conditions. Results: Monozygotic twins had higher concordance rates than dizygotic twins for autism spectrum disorders, attention defcit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental coordination disorder, and tic disorder. Genetic effects accounted for 80% (95% CI=29-91) of the variation in liability for autism spectrum disorders, 79% (95% CI=61-88) for ADHD, 70% (95% CI=35-83) for developmental coordination disorder, and 56% (95% CI=37-68) for tic disorder. Among monozygotic co-twins of children with autism spectrum disorders, the probability of having a diagnosis of ADHD was 44%, compared with 15% for dizygotic co-twins. Differences in cross-disorder effects between monozygotic and dizygotic twins were observed for most other comorbidities, and substantial proportions of the genetic variance for autism spectrum disorders was shared with each of the other disorders. Conclusions: Different neuropsychiatric disorders seem to have a common genetic etiology, suggesting caution in the use of diagnostic entities and proband status in efforts to uncover genes predisposing to autism spectrum disorders. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
American Journal of Psychiatry
volume
167
issue
11
pages
1357 - 1363
publisher
American Psychiatric Association
external identifiers
  • wos:000283669500012
  • pmid:20686188
  • scopus:78349293844
  • pmid:20686188
ISSN
1535-7228
DOI
10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10020223
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3cc460f0-09d9-4907-95d6-e5cb46b006d6 (old id 1665567)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20686188?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:05:37
date last changed
2022-04-28 06:53:15
@article{3cc460f0-09d9-4907-95d6-e5cb46b006d6,
  abstract     = {{Objective: Autism spectrum disorders are considered to be among the most heritable mental disorders, a notion based on surprisingly sparse data from small clinical studies. Population-based studies of the heritability of other neuro-psychiatric disorders and comorbidities among them have also been sparse. The authors sought to address both of these issues. Method: Parents of all Swedish 9- and 12-year-old twin pairs born between 1992 and 2000 (N=10,895) were interviewed regarding autism spectrum disorders and associated conditions (response rate, 80%). Concordance rates and structural equation modeling were used for evaluating causes for familial aggregation and overlap between conditions. Results: Monozygotic twins had higher concordance rates than dizygotic twins for autism spectrum disorders, attention defcit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental coordination disorder, and tic disorder. Genetic effects accounted for 80% (95% CI=29-91) of the variation in liability for autism spectrum disorders, 79% (95% CI=61-88) for ADHD, 70% (95% CI=35-83) for developmental coordination disorder, and 56% (95% CI=37-68) for tic disorder. Among monozygotic co-twins of children with autism spectrum disorders, the probability of having a diagnosis of ADHD was 44%, compared with 15% for dizygotic co-twins. Differences in cross-disorder effects between monozygotic and dizygotic twins were observed for most other comorbidities, and substantial proportions of the genetic variance for autism spectrum disorders was shared with each of the other disorders. Conclusions: Different neuropsychiatric disorders seem to have a common genetic etiology, suggesting caution in the use of diagnostic entities and proband status in efforts to uncover genes predisposing to autism spectrum disorders.}},
  author       = {{Lichtenstein, Paul and Carlström, Eva and Råstam, Maria and Gillberg, Christopher and Anckarsäter, Henrik}},
  issn         = {{1535-7228}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{1357--1363}},
  publisher    = {{American Psychiatric Association}},
  series       = {{American Journal of Psychiatry}},
  title        = {{The Genetics of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Childhood.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10020223}},
  doi          = {{10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10020223}},
  volume       = {{167}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}