Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep;49(9):3543-3556.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-04074-1.

Characteristics Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder Risk in Individuals with Down Syndrome

Marie Moore Channell  1 , Laura J Hahn  2 , Tracie C Rosser  3 , Debra Hamilton  3 , Michelle A Frank-Crawford  4 , George T Capone  4 , Stephanie L Sherman  3 ; Down Syndrome Cognition Project
Affiliations

Characteristics Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder Risk in Individuals with Down Syndrome

Marie Moore Channell et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

We examined autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk in a large national sample of 203 individuals with Down syndrome, 6-25 years old, to determine the association of ASD risk with age, sex, IQ, adaptive behaviors, and maladaptive behaviors. We used a two-pronged approach by (1) considering ASD symptomatology continuously across the sample of individuals with DS and examining associations with each characteristic, and (2) dichotomizing our sample into high and low ASD risk groups and comparing groups on each characteristic. The pattern of results was largely similar across both types of analyses. ASD symptomatology/risk was negatively associated with IQ and adaptive behaviors and positively associated with certain types of maladaptive behaviors. Clinical implications for screening and therapeutic purposes are discussed.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Down syndrome; Intellectual disability; Maladaptive behavior; Psychiatric comorbidities.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1999 Mar;41(3):153-8 - PubMed
    1. Br J Psychiatry. 1999 Nov;175:444-51 - PubMed
    1. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 2000;6(2):84-95 - PubMed
    1. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2001 Nov;43(11):750-4 - PubMed
    1. Am J Med Genet A. 2005 May 1;134(4):373-80 - PubMed