Parental broader autism subphenotypes in ASD affected families: relationship to gender, child's symptoms, SSRI treatment, and platelet serotonin.
Parent BAP traits differ by gender and SSRI use, but links to child behavior are weak and may reflect reporter bias.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked moms and dads of kids with autism to fill out the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire. They also noted who was taking SSRI antidepressants and checked platelet serotonin levels.
Parents answered questions about aloofness, rigidity, and pragmatic language. The study looked for links between these scores, gender, medicine use, and child symptoms.
What they found
Fathers scored higher on aloofness; mothers scored higher on rigidity. Mothers taking SSRIs had slightly higher BAP scores, but the link to child repetitive behaviors was weak.
Platelet serotonin showed small differences, yet the paper did not correct for multiple tests, so results stay descriptive.
How this fits with other research
Seidman et al. (2012) saw the same gender pattern one year earlier, making the new SSRI layer an extension, not a clash.
Muller et al. (2022) extends the story by showing parents with high BAP scores over-rate autism symptoms on the SRS. This warns us that the mild parent-child correlations in Flapper et al. (2013) might reflect reporter bias, not true child severity.
Tassé et al. (2013), using the same 2013 family pool, links parental BAP to child language deficits. Together the papers hint that parent traits matter, but each focuses on a different child domain.
Why it matters
When you score a child’s social or repetitive symptoms, check if the parent shows BAP traits or takes SSRIs. If so, gather teacher or clinician data to avoid over-estimating the child’s level. Also, expect fathers to seem more aloof and mothers more rigid during intake—this is normative, not a red flag.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Relationships between parental broader autism phenotype (BAP) scores, gender, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, serotonin (5HT) levels, and the child's symptoms were investigated in a family study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Broader Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) was used to measure the BAP of 275 parents. Fathers not taking SSRIs (F-SSRI; n = 115) scored significantly higher on BAP Total and Aloof subscales compared to mothers not receiving treatment (M-SSRI; n = 136.) However, mothers taking SSRIs (M + SSRI; n = 19) scored higher than those not taking medication on BAP Total and Rigid subscales, and they were more likely to be BAPQ Total, Aloof, and Rigid positive. Significant correlations were noted between proband autism symptoms and parental BAPQ scores such that Total, Aloof, and Rigid subscale scores of F-SSRI correlated with proband restricted repetitive behavior (RRB) measures on the ADOS, CRI, and RBS-R. However, only the Aloof subscale score of M + SSRI correlated with proband RRB on the ADOS. The correlation between the BAPQ scores of mothers taking SSRIs and child scores, as well as the increase in BAPQ scores of this group of mothers, requires careful interpretation and further study because correlations would not withstand multiple corrections. As expected by previous research, significant parent-child correlations were observed for 5HT levels. However, 5HT levels were not correlated with behavioral measures. Study results suggest that the expression of the BAP varies not only across parental gender, but also across individuals using psychotropic medication and those who do not.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2013 · doi:10.1002/aur.1322