Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

What Causes Internalising Traits and Autistic Traits to Co-occur in Adolescence? A Community-Based Twin Study

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Autism shows a high degree of comorbidity with anxiety disorders. Adolescence is a time of increased stress and vulnerability to internalising problems. This study addresses for the first time the degree of genetic and environmental overlap between autistic traits (total measure and subscales) and internalising traits in a community-based adolescent twin sample. Parents of 12-14-year-old twins (N = 3,232 pairs; 3,460 males, 3,004 females) reported on the twins’ internalising and autistic traits. Autistic trait subscales were created using principal component analysis. Bivariate twin model-fitting was conducted. Autistic and internalising traits correlated moderately (r = 0.30). Genetic influences on individual traits were substantial but genetic overlap between traits was moderate (genetic correlation: males = 0.30, females = 0.12). Shared environmental influences were low for internalising traits and moderate for autistic traits, and showed considerable overlap (shared environmental correlation: males = 0.53, females = 1). Nonshared environmental influences were moderate for internalising traits and low for autistic traits and showed low overlap. A multiple component solution was found for autistic traits and of the derived subscales, autistic-like ‘Social Unease’ showed the most phenotypic and genetic overlap with internalising traits.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the child behaviour checklist 1991 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association APA (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Fourth Edition: DSM-IV-TR ed.): American Psychiatric Pub.

  • Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., & Silver, D. (1995). Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 5, 237–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S., Hoekstra, R. A., Knickmeyer, R., & Wheelwright, S. (2006). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ)-adolescent version. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 343–350.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, P., Macdonald, H., Pickles, A., Rios, P., Goode, S., Crowson, M., et al. (1994). A case–control family history study of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 35, 877–900.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burt, S. A. (2009). Rethinking environmental contributions to child and adolescent psychopathology: a meta-analysis of shared environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 608–637.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Constantino, J. N., & Charman, T. (2012). Gender bias, female resilience, and the sex ratio in autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51, 756–758.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Bruin, E. I., Ferdinand, R. F., Meester, S., de Nijs, P. F. A., & Verheij, F. (2007). High rates of psychiatric co-morbidity in PDD-NOS. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 877–886.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dworzynski, K., Ronald, A., Bolton, P., & Happé, F. (2012). How different are girls and boys above and below the diagnostic threshold for autism spectrum disorders? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51, 788–797.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Boden, J. M. (2006). Structure of internalising symptoms in early adulthood. British Journal of Psychiatry, 189, 540–546.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, R. (1997). The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: a research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 38, 581–586.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, R. (2001). Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 1337–1345.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, R., & Scott, S. (1999). Comparing the strengths and difficulties questionnaire and the child behavior checklist: Is small beautiful? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 17–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, R. D., Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (2004). Early anxious/withdrawn behaviours predict later internalising disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 874–883.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, A. M., & Eley, T. C. (2011). The genetic basis of child and adolescent anxiety. Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallett, V., Ronald, A., & Happé, F. (2009). Investigating the association between autistic-like and internalizing traits in a community-based twin sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 48, 618–627.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hallett, V., Ronald, A., Rijsdijk, F., & Happé, F. (2010). Association of autistic-like and internalizing traits during childhood: a longitudinal twin study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 809–817.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hallett, V., Ronald, A., Rijsdijk, F., & Happé, F. (2012). Disentangling the associations between autistic-like and internalizing traits: a community based twin study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 815–827.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Happé, F., & Ronald, A. (2008). The ‘fractionable autism triad’: a review of evidence from behavioural, genetic, cognitive and neural research. Neuropsychology Review, 18, 287–304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Happé, F., Ronald, A., & Plomin, R. (2006). Time to give up on a single explanation for autism. Nature Neuroscience, 9, 1218–1220.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haworth, C. M. A., Davis, O. S. P., & Plomin, R. (2013). Twins early development study (teds): a genetically sensitive investigation of cognitive and behavioral development from childhood to young adulthood. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 16, 117–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra, R. A., Bartels, M., Cath, D. C., & Boomsma, D. I. (2008). Factor structure, reliability and criterion validity of the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): a study in Dutch population and patient groups. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1555–1566.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra, R. A., Bartels, M., Hudziak, J. J., van Beijsterveldt, T. C. E. M., & Boomsma, D. I. (2007). Genetic and environmental covariation between autistic traits and behavioral problems. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 10, 853–860.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra, R. A., Vinkhuyzen, A. A. E., Wheelwright, S., Bartels, M., Boomsma, D. I., Baron-Cohen, S., et al. (2011). The construction and validation of an abridged version of the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ-Short). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 589–596.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hurst, R. M., Mitchell, J. T., Kimbrel, N. A., Kwapil, T. K., & Nelson-Gray, R. O. (2007). Examination of the reliability and factor structure of the autism spectrum quotient (AQ) in a non-clinical sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1938–1949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ketelaars, C., Horwitz, E., Sytema, S., Bos, J., Wiersma, D., Minderaa, R., et al. (2008). Brief report: adults with mild autism spectrum disorders (asd): scores on the autism spectrum quotient (AQ) and comorbid psychopathology. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 176–180.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lau, J. Y. F., & Eley, T. C. (2010). The genetics of mood disorders. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 313–337.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewinsohn, P. M., Clarke, G. N., Seeley, J. R., & Rohde, P. (1994). Major depression in community adolescents - age at onset, episode duration, and time to recurrence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 809–818.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam, K., & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: a comparison across parents of multiple- and single-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B-Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 147, 424–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundström, S., Chang, Z., Kerekes, N., Gumpert, C. H., Råstam, M., Gillberg, C., et al. (2011). Autistic-like traits and their association with mental health problems in two nationwide twin cohorts of children and adults. Psychological Medicine, 41, 2423–2433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lundström, S., Chang, Z., Råstam, M., Gillberg, C., Larsson, H., Anckarsäter, H., et al. (2012). Autism spectrum disorders and autistic-like traits: similar etiology in the extreme end and the normal variation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 69, 46–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E., Harrington, H., Caspi, A., Kim-Cohen, J., Goldberg, D., Gregory, A. M., et al. (2007). Depression and generalized anxiety disorder - cumulative and sequential comorbidity in a birth cohort followed prospectively to age 32 years. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 651–660.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neale, M. C. (1997). Mx: Statistical modeling (4th ed.). Charlottesville: Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, T. S., Freeman, B., Craig, I., Petrill, S. A., Ebersole, L., & Plomin, R. (2000). Infant zygosity can be assigned by parental report questionnaire data. Twin Research, 3, 129–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, E. B., Koenen, K. C., McCormick, M. C., Munir, K., Hallett, V., Happé, F. et al. (2011a). Evidence that autistic traits show the same etiology in the general population and at the quantitative extremes (5%, 2.5%, and 1%). Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 1113–1121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, E. B., Koenen, K. C., McCormick, M. C., Munir, K., Hallett, V., Happé, F., et al. (2012). A multivariate twin study of autistic traits in 12-year-olds: testing the fractionable autism triad hypothesis. Behavior Genetics, 42, 245–255.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, E. B., Munir, K., Munafo, M. R., Hughes, M., McCormick, M. C., & Koenen, K. C. (2011b). Stability of autistic traits in the general population: further evidence for a continuum of impairment. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 50, 376–384.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, A., Happé, F., Bolton, P., Butcher, L. M., Price, T. S., Wheelwright, S., et al. (2006). Genetic heterogeneity between the three components of the autism spectrum: a twin study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45, 691–699.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, A., Happé, F., & Plomin, R. (2005). The genetic relationship between individual differences in social and nonsocial behaviours characteristic of autism. Developmental Science, 8, 444–458.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, A., & Hoekstra, R. A. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders and autistic traits: a decade of new twin studies. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B-Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 156, 255–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, A., Larsson, H., Anckarsäter, H., & Lichtenstein, P. (2011). A twin study of autism symptoms in sweden. Molecular Psychiatry, 16, 1039–1047.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, F. J., Baron-Cohen, S., Bolton, P., & Brayne, C. (2002). Brief report - prevalence of autism spectrum conditions in children aged 5–11 years in cambridgeshire, uk. Autism, 6, 231–237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simonoff, E., Pickles, A., Charman, T., Chandler, S., Loucas, T., & Baird, G. (2008). Psychiatric disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders: prevalence, comorbidity, and associated factors in a population-derived sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 921–929.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Roy, B., Veenstra, M., & Clench-Aas, J. (2008). Construct validity of the five-factor strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) in pre-, early, and late adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 1304–1312.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Steensel, F. J. A., Bogels, S. M., & Perrin, S. (2011). Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14, 302–317.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wakabayashi, A., Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2006). Are autistic traits an independent personality dimension? A study of the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) and the NEO-PI-R. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 873–883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation WHO. (1992). ICD-10 classifications of mental and behavioural disorder: Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. J., & Gadow, K. D. (2010). Exploring the nature and function of anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorders. Clinical Psychology-Science and Practice, 17, 281–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodbury-Smith, M. R., Robinson, J., Wheelwright, S., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2005). Screening adults for asperger syndrome using the AQ: a preliminary study of its diagnostic validity in clinical practice. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 331–335.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to participants of the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) for making the study possible. TEDS is funded by MRC grant G500079. AS was funded by the Bloomsbury Colleges during this study. We kindly thank Robert Plomin for the use of the TEDS data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, 32 Torrington Square, London, WC1E 7JL, UK

    Aline Scherff & Angelica Ronald

  2. Centre for Research in Autism and Education, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK

    Mark Taylor

  3. Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK

    Thalia C. Eley & Francesca Happé

  4. Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK

    Tony Charman

Authors
  1. Aline Scherff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thalia C. Eley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Francesca Happé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tony Charman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Angelica Ronald
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aline Scherff.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 82 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Scherff, A., Taylor, M., Eley, T.C. et al. What Causes Internalising Traits and Autistic Traits to Co-occur in Adolescence? A Community-Based Twin Study. J Abnorm Child Psychol 42, 601–610 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9796-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9796-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation