Gestational Age in Autistic Children and Adolescents: Prevalence and Effects on Autism Phenotype

Abstract

Pre- and post-term children show increased autism risk. Little is known about gestational age (GA) prevalence among autistic children, and their respective autism phenotype. We compared prevalence of pre-, full- and post-term birth between a population-derived sample of N = 606 (137 females, 22.61%) autistic children and adolescents (mean age = 14.01, SD = 3.63, range 3–24) from the Netherlands Autism Register, and matched controls from the Dutch birth register. Autism phenotype and comorbid symptoms were assessed with the AQ-short and SDQ questionnaires. Using logistic regression, we found higher prevalence of pre- and post-term birth among autistic individuals but no phenotypical differences across GA groups. Autism risk was particularly elevated for post-term children, highlighting the need for closer investigation of autism on the whole GA range.

The association between post-term births and autism spectrum disorders: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The remaining 27 full paper records were evaluated for eligibility, of which nine records were excluded. Eventually, a total of 18 records (six cohorts [ 8 , 17 – 21 ] and 11 case–controls [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 22 – 29 ], and one cross-sectional study [ 30 ]) were included with 1,412,667 sample populations from 12 countries (Table 1 ).…”

“…A prior systematic review has reported an overall prevalence of 0.6% of ASD in people with post-term birth [ 5 ]. Some studies have reported post-term birth as a pregnancy risk factor for ASD [ 6 , 7 ], while other studies have not shown this relationship [ 8 , 9 ], also previously, meta-analysis found that post-term birth is not a risk factor for ASD [ 10 ]. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to determine whether post-term birth has an increased risk of ASD.…”

Understanding the relationship between social camouflaging in autism and safety behaviours in social anxiety in autistic and non‐autistic adolescents

“…All participants first completed demographic questions including age, gender, identity, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and completed the Receptive One‐Word Picture Vocabulary Test (4th Edition, Martin & Brownell, 2010) to assess reading ability. Participants completed Autism Quotient‐28 (AQ‐28; Hoekstra et al., 2011; previously used with autistic children and adolescents in Dewinter, De Graaf, & Begeer, 2017; Martini, Merkelbach, & Begeer, 2023) to assess autism traits, and Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN; Johnson, Inderbitzen‐Nolan, & Anderson, 2006) to asses SA symptom severity, both measures showed good internal consistency in this study ( α = .78–.92). All participants completed the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT‐Q; Hull et al., 2019; previously used with autistic adolescents in Bernardin, Lewis, Bell, & Kanne, 2021; Jorgenson, Lewis, Rose, & Kanne, 2020) to measure social camouflaging constructs including masking, assimilation and compensation, Adolescent Social Behaviours Questionnaire (ASBQ; Leigh, Chiu, & Clark, 2021) to assess safety behaviours including avoidance and IM, and Adolescent Social Cognitions Questionnaire (ASCQ; Leigh & Clark, 2021) to assess SA‐related cognitions.…”

Achter de Spiegel: Het spectrum van autisme

“…Ook de focus op de vroege ontwikkeling lijkt potentie te hebben. Wij zagen bijvoorbeeld onlangs dat onze deelnemers veel vaker te vroeg geboren zijn 42 , dit kan invloed hebben op neurale ontwikkeling. Het is heel belangrijk dat hersenonderzoek gekoppeld wordt aan onderzoek naar gedrag en ervaringen.…”