Subgrouping Autism Based on Symptom Severity Leads to Differences in the Degree of Convergence Between Core Feature Domains

Existing models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disagree as to whether the core features should be conceptualized as convergent (related) or divergent (unrelated), and the few previous studies addressing this question have found conflicting results. We examined standardized parent ratings of sympt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2018-06, Vol.48 (6), p.1908-1919
Main Authors: Whitten, Allison, Unruh, Kathryn E., Shafer, Robin L., Bodfish, James W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autism
Autistic children
Behavior Problems
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Child and School Psychology
Children
Classification
Communication Skills
Comparative Analysis
Convergence
Diagnosis
Genetics
Identification and classification
Interpersonal Competence
Neurosciences
Original Paper
Parent Attitudes
Pediatrics
Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Psychiatric research
Psychology
Public Health
Repetitive behaviour
Severity
Severity (of Disability)
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
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Summary:Existing models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disagree as to whether the core features should be conceptualized as convergent (related) or divergent (unrelated), and the few previous studies addressing this question have found conflicting results. We examined standardized parent ratings of symptoms from three domains (social, communication, repetitive behaviors) in large samples of typically developing children, children with ASD, and ASD subgroups. Our results suggest that the most evidence for divergence lies in typically developing children and lower severity ASD cases, while more evidence for convergence is found in a subset of cases with more severe impairment on any core feature. These results highlight the importance of subgrouping ASD given the degree of phenotypic heterogeneity present across the autism spectrum.
ISSN:0162-3257
1573-3432
DOI:10.1007/s10803-017-3451-3