The Mental and Physical Health of Older Adults With a Genetic Predisposition for Autism.
Older adults with an autistic close relative carry extra mood and anxiety risk—screen them.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Patton et al. (2020) sent surveys to adults aged 50 and up. Half had a child or sibling with autism. The other half did not.
They asked each person to list current mental and physical health problems.
What they found
The older adults with an autistic relative reported more depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms.
Their physical health scores looked the same as the control group.
How this fits with other research
Porter et al. (2008) saw the same pattern in a smaller, younger group. Mood and anxiety rates were high in adults with autism and in their relatives.
Eriksson et al. (2012) found more psychiatric conditions in parents of young children with autism. R et al. now show the risk sticks around into grand-parent age.
Poppes et al. (2016) looked at adult siblings of people with autism, Prader-Willi, or Down syndrome. Only the autism and Prader-Willi siblings showed raised anxiety and depression. The new survey agrees: autism in the family, not any disability, is the key link.
Why it matters
When you assess an older client, ask if they have an autistic child, brother, or sister. If they do, add quick mood and trauma screens to your intake. Early catches can cut suffering and may boost cooperation in ABA programs they support.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism commonly aggregates in families, with twin studies estimating heritability to be around 80%. Subclinical autism-like characteristics have also been found at elevated rates in relatives of autistic probands. Physical and psychiatric conditions have been reported at elevated rates in autistic children and adults, and also in their relatives. However, to date, there has been no exploration of how aging may affect this pattern. This study examined cross-sectional data from the ongoing online PROTECT study. A total of 20,220 adults aged 50 years and older reported whether they have an autistic first-degree relative. In total, 739 older adults reported having an autistic first-degree relative (AFDR group) and 11,666 were identified as having no family history of any neurodevelopmental disorder (NFD group). The AFDR group demonstrated significantly higher frequencies of self-reported psychiatric diagnoses and a greater total number of co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses than the NFD group. Furthermore, the AFDR group reported elevated current self-report symptoms of depression, anxiety, traumatic experience, and post-traumatic stress than the NFD group. By contrast, few differences between AFDR and NFD groups were observed in physical health conditions, and no differences were observed in the total number of co-occurring physical health diagnoses. These findings suggest that adults who have an AFDR may be at greater risk of poor mental, but not physical, health in later life. Older adults with autistic relatives may benefit from close monitoring to mitigate this susceptibility and to provide timely intervention. Autism Res 2020, 13: 641-654. © 2020 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Children and adults with an autistic relative have been found to experience more psychiatric difficulties than those with no family links to autism. However, a few studies have explored what happens when these individuals get older. Examining over 20,000 adults age 50+, we found that older adults with an autistic relative experienced elevated rates of most psychiatric conditions but not physical conditions. Older adults with autistic relatives may benefit from close monitoring to mitigate this susceptibility and to provide timely intervention.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2020 · doi:10.1002/aur.2277