White, SJ;
Gerber, D;
Sanchez Hernandez, RD;
Efiannayi, A;
Chowdhury, I;
Partington, H;
Moss, JF;
(2021)
Autistic traits and mental health in women with the fragile-X premutation: maternal status versus genetic risk.
The British Journal of Psychiatry
, 218
(1)
pp. 28-34.
10.1192/bjp.2020.231.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Research on women with the fragile-X premutation (FX-p) has been underrepresented within the field of behavioural phenotypes. AIMS: To understand whether the FX-p confers risk for autistic traits, depression and anxiety, independent of maternal status. METHOD: In study 1, mothers of children with fragile-X syndrome (M-FXp; n = 51, mean age 43 years (s.d. = 5.80)) were compared with mothers of autistic children (M-ASD; n = 59, mean age 42 (s.d. = 5.80)), mothers of children with Smith-Magenis syndrome (M-SMS; n = 27, mean age 39 (s.d. = 7.20)) and mothers of typically developing children (M-TD; n = 44, mean age 40 (s.d. = 4.90)). In study 2, the M-FXp group were compared with non-mothers with the FX-p (NM-FXp; n = 17, mean age 32 (s.d. = 9.20)), typically developed non-mothers (NM-TD; n = 28, mean age 31 (s.d. = 6.80)) and the M-TD group. All participants completed an online survey, including measures of IQ, autistic traits, anxiety, depression and positive affect. RESULTS: In study 1: the M-FXp group reported more autistic traits than the M-TD group (P < 0.05, η2 = 0.046). Anxiety and parental stress were elevated in the M-FXp, M-SMS and M-ASD groups relative to the M-TD group (all P ≤ 0.003, η2 = 0.079-0.322). In study 2: a main effect of premutation status indicated that women with the FX-p report elevated autistic traits and anxiety (P ≤ 0.007, η2 = 0.055-0.060); this did not interact with maternal status. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that women with the FX-p show an increased risk for autistic traits and anxiety. This risk is specific to the presence of the FX-p and is not fully accounted for by maternal status or the stress of caring for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Autistic traits and mental health in women with the fragile-X premutation: maternal status versus genetic risk |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1192/bjp.2020.231 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2020.231 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | anxiety, autistic characteristics, broader autism phenotype, depression, fragile-X premutation |
| UCL classification: | UCL 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 Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10121187 |
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