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
. 1983 Mar;13(1):57-65.
doi: 10.1007/BF01531359.

Etiological implication of maternal age and birth order in infantile autism

L Y Tsai, M A Stewart

Etiological implication of maternal age and birth order in infantile autism

L Y Tsai et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 1983 Mar.

Abstract

Birth orders and maternal ages of the 113 autistic patients were compared with those of the general population. An excess of mothers aged 35 or older was observed in the autistic group, though the mean maternal age for the whole group was very similar to those of the general population. A deviation from average in birth order was observed in autistics. Significantly more autistics were products of at-risk pregnancies (defined as either first, fourth, or later born, or born to mothers aged 30 or older) than the base population. The results suggest that at least some environmental factors are involved in the causation of autism. The findings support the idea that a multifactorial mechanism is responsible for some or all of the cases.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1964 Jun;5:51-7 - PubMed
    1. J Autism Child Schizophr. 1974 Jan-Mar;4(1):42-60 - PubMed
    1. J Autism Dev Disord. 1979 Mar;9(1):11-29 - PubMed
    1. J Autism Dev Disord. 1981 Jun;11(2):165-73 - PubMed
    1. Br J Psychiatry. 1967 Nov;113(504):1169-82 - PubMed