Dimensional structure of the autism phenotype: relations between early development and current presentation.
Autism traits split into social-communication and anxious-compulsive lanes, and both lanes predict today’s picture.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Kamp-Becker et al. (2009) looked at 140 people with autism who had average or high IQ.
They used factor analysis to see if early signs of autism group into clear patterns.
Parents filled out forms about early development and current behavior.
What they found
Two clear factors showed up: social-communication problems and anxious-compulsive behaviors.
Early scores on these factors predicted how the person looks today.
The two factors work separately; one does not explain the other.
How this fits with other research
Capio et al. (2013) found the same anxious-compulsive factor in school-age kids.
Ratcliffe et al. (2015) showed that poor social skills predict later mental-health trouble, matching the social-communication factor.
Montazeri et al. (2019) seems to disagree. Their network study put anxiety at the edge of the autism picture, not at the center.
The gap is mostly about method: Farhad studied only high-functioning kids and used network maps, while Inge mixed IQ levels and used factor scores.
Why it matters
You can score social-communication and anxious-compulsive traits as two separate tracks.
If a client has high anxious-compulsive scores, plan anxiety care even if social skills are strong.
Watch mild-ASD kids with poor social ties; they may need extra anxiety checks.
Use brief parent questionnaires for each track to guide goals and referrals.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a two-column checklist to your intake: one for social-communication items, one for anxious-compulsive items.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The dimensional structure of higher functioning autism phenotype was investigated by factor analysis. The goal of this study was to identify the degree to which early symptoms of autism (measured using the ADI-R) could be predictive of the current symptoms of autism as identified using the ADOS, the adaptive behavior scales, IQ scores and theory of mind scores. Participants included 140 subjects with Full Scale IQ > 70 (104 with autism spectrum diagnosis, 36 with non autism diagnosis, age range 6-24). For the early development as well as for the current presentation a multi-factor solution was found. In line with other studies we found that the social interaction and communication domains are closely related to one factor namely: Social communication. An additional factor implies anxious and compulsive behavior which is associated with current social communication functioning.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2009 · doi:10.1007/s10803-008-0656-5