Barona, M;
Kothari, R;
Skuse, D;
Micali, N;
(2015)
Social communication and emotion difficulties and second to fourth digit ratio in a large community-based sample.
Molecular Autism
, 6
, Article 68. 10.1186/s13229-015-0063-7.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent research investigating the extreme male brain theory of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has drawn attention to the possibility that autistic type social difficulties may be associated with high prenatal testosterone exposure. This study aims to investigate the association between social communication and emotion recognition difficulties and second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and circulating maternal testosterone during pregnancy in a large community-based cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). A secondary aim is to investigate possible gender differences in the associations. METHODS: Data on social communication (Social and Communication Disorders Checklist, N = 7165), emotion recognition (emotional triangles, N = 5844 and diagnostics analysis of non-verbal accuracy, N = 7488) and 2D:4D (second to fourth digit ratio, N = 7159) were collected in childhood and early adolescence from questionnaires and face-to-face assessments. Complete data was available on 3515 children. Maternal circulating testosterone during pregnancy was available in a subsample of 89 children. RESULTS: Males had lower 2D:4D ratios than females [t (3513) = -9.775, p < 0.001]. An association was found between measures of social communication and emotion recognition, and the lowest 10 % of 2D:4D ratios. A significant association was found between maternal circulating testosterone and left hand 2D:4D [OR = 1.65, 95 % CI 1.1-2.4, p < 0.01]. CONCLUSIONS: Previous findings on the association between 2D:4D and social communication difficulties were not confirmed. A novel association between an extreme measure of 2D:4D in males suggests threshold effects and warrants replication.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Social communication and emotion difficulties and second to fourth digit ratio in a large community-based sample |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s13229-015-0063-7 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13229-015-0063-7 |
| Additional information: | This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated |
| Keywords: | ALSPAC, Autism, Emotion recognition difficulties, Second to fourth digit ratio, Social communication, Testosterone |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1476353 |
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