A quarterly publication of the Autism Research Institute
Spring, 2016 | Number 2, Volume 30
Adults with mild traits of autism may experience more difficulties as they age than their neurotypical peers do, a small study suggests.
Gregory Wallace and colleagues enrolled 66 individuals in their study. Forty-six were controls, while 20 exhibited mild, subclinical autism traits as measured by the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ). The BAPQ assesses whether individuals have social problems (aloof personality), pragmatic language difficulties, or a rigid personality. Participants also completed tests measuring their level of social support, their executive function (a term that refers to cognitive skills such as cognitive flexibility and shifting, inhibitory control, and working memory), and their levels of depression and anxiety.
After controlling for age, education level, sex, and health problems, the researchers found that individuals with the broad autism phenotype (BAP) exhibited more problems than controls in executive function. In addition, they had lower levels of social support and higher levels of depression and anxiety.
The researchers note that as people age, executive function typically declines, as do levels of social support. At the same time, individuals become more vulnerable to depression and anxiety. BAP traits, they say, may compound the risk for these problems.
The study reported three additional findings:
• Seven of the individuals with BAP had a relative with ASD, which the researchers say “supports BAP traits existing across a continuum during late life, consistent with numerous studies documenting variance in these traits in childhood and adolescence.”
• Levels of BAP traits did not correlate with age, suggesting that these traits remain stable across older adulthood.
• There were equal numbers of men and women in the BAP group, which the researchers say is consistent with previous findings indicating that while ASD affects far more males than females, BAP traits are as common in females as in males.
“Aging and autism spectrum disorder: Evidence from the broad autism phenotype,” Gregory L. Wallace, Jessica Budgett, and Rebecca A. Charlton, Autism Research, March 11, 2016 (epub prior to print publication). Address: Rebecca A. Charlton, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London, SE14 6NW, U.K., [email protected].
