Journal Article

Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children Adopted After Early Care Breakdown

Leadbitter, Kathy, Kay, Catherine, Green, Jonathan, Sharma, Kishan

2016

Overview

Syndromic autism has been described in children adopted after orphanage rearing. We investigated whether the same existed in children adopted after family breakdown. Families of 54/60 adopted children aged 6–11 years (mean 102 months; SD 20; 45 % male) returned screening questionnaires for autism spectrum disorder (ASD); 21/54 (39 %) screened positive. Detailed in-person phenotyping of screen positive cases showed ASD in 6/54 (11 %), Broad ASD (sub threshold traits) in 10/54 (18.5 %); 5/54 (9 %) screened false positive. The ASD group showed impairments across both social communication and restrictive repetitive behaviour domains, Broad ASD was more mixed. These rates, much higher than population prevalence, are comparable with institutionalised samples. There are implications for developmental science, and assessment, treatment and policy for adopted children.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adopted children / Adoption / Adoption - psychology / At Risk Persons / Autism / Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis / Autism Spectrum Disorder - epidemiology / Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology / Autism Spectrum Disorders / Autistic children / Behavior / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Breakdown / Care and treatment / Caregivers / Child / Child & adolescent psychiatry / Child and School Psychology / Child development / Child psychology / Children / Children & youth / Children, Adopted / Communication / Complications and side effects / False positive results / Families & family life / Family conflict / Family Environment / Family Relations - psychology / Female / Health aspects / Humans / Institutional Environment / Interpersonal Communication / Interpersonal Competence / Longitudinal method / Longitudinal Studies / Male / Medical screening / Mental health / National Surveys / Neurosciences / Nonverbal Communication / Original Paper / Orphans / Pediatrics / Pervasive Developmental Disorders / Phenotyping / Population / Prevalence / Psychology / Psychopathology / Public Health / Questionnaires / Repetitive behaviour / Screening Tests / Social change / Social Development / State Surveys / Studies / Surveys and Questionnaires / Symptoms (Individual Disorders) / Teenagers / Young Children