Autism: Social and Communication Predictors in Siblings

描述（由申请人提供）：本修订后的申请是对自闭症儿童的婴儿兄弟姐妹（AU sibs）和低风险对照（在6个月、14个月、24个月和36个月进行测试）中自闭症出现的前瞻性、纵向研究的竞争性更新请求。来自现有R01的数据显示，自闭症在14个月时出现，其表型的特征是社交、沟通、重复和刻板的行为和兴趣模式的缺陷。超过三分之一的自闭症患儿的症状会变得更严重。在更新中，将有四组参与者：(1)自闭症儿童的弟弟妹妹；(2)低风险控制；（三）通过言语先证者确定弟弟妹妹；(4)患有特殊语言障碍（SLI）的儿童，他们将在与1-3组（来自堪萨斯大学的Mabel Rice博士的样本）相同的年龄接受完全相同的评估方案。提议的持续研究的具体目的是跟踪这些儿童直到他们6至8岁，以便：(1)检查表现出自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）、语言障碍或幼儿期无障碍的儿童的早期学龄“结果”；(2)确定14月龄儿童学龄ASD和更广泛的自闭症表型（BAP）的预测因子；(3)确定与BAP和ASD相关的语言障碍在4 - 8岁之间是否与特殊语言障碍重叠，并以预测的方式与之区分。同样，自闭症相关的社会缺陷是否与特殊语言障碍相关也将被研究。评估将测量智商、适应功能、语言（音韵学、形态句法、词汇、语用学）、阅读、社会、发展精神病理学和自闭症症状。所有站点的数据完全重叠。数据将每年收集一次。分析将涉及使用回归模型和增长曲线分析。这将是同类研究中第一个从婴儿期到学龄跟踪自闭症和相关疾病高风险儿童的研究，也是第一个前瞻性和纵向比较自闭症、BAP和特殊语言障碍的语言功能的研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This revised application is a request for competitive renewal of a prospective, longitudinal study of the emergence of autism in infant siblings of children with autism (AU sibs) and low risk controls (tested at 6 months, 14, 24 and 36 months). Data from the existing R01 show that autism is present by 14 months, with the phenotype being characterized by deficits in social, communication, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior and interest. Symptoms become more severe in about over a third of the toddlers with ASD. In the renewal, there will be four groups of participants: (1) younger siblings of children with autism; (2) low-risk controls; (3) verbal probands through whom the younger siblings were ascertained; and (4) children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) who will have the exact same assessment protocol at the same ages as groups 1-3 (Dr. Mabel Rice's sample from University of Kansas). The specific aims of the proposed continuation are to follow these children until they are 6 to 8 years of age in order to: (1) examine early school-age 'outcomes' of children who manifested autism spectrum disorder (ASD), language impairment, or no impairment during toddlerhood; (2) identify 14-month-old predictors of school-age ASD and the broader autism phenotype (BAP); and (3) determine whether the language impairment associated with the BAP and ASD overlap with, and are distinguished from, SLI in predicted ways between 4 and 8 years of age. Likewise, whether autism-related social deficits are associated with SLI will be examined. Assessments will measure IQ, adaptive functioning, language (phonological, morphosyntactic, vocabulary, pragmatics), reading, social, developmental psychopathology, and autism symptoms. There is complete overlap of data for the all sites. Data will be collected at yearly intervals. Analyses will involve the use of regression models, and growth curve analysis. This will be the first study of its kind to follow children at high risk for autism and related disorders from infancy to school age, and the first to prospectively and longitudinally compare linguistic functioning in autism, the BAP, and SLI.