autism refers to a pervasive developmental disorder that results in verbal and/or non-verbal communication problems, poor social interactions and stereotyped and repetitive behaviors. Today, autism affects nearly 600,000 people in France. But if the causes of the disease remain unclear, researchers from the permanent Kaiser Institute (United States) suggest that the risk of suffering from an autism spectrum disorder is 14 times higher when an older brother or sister is already affected.
Research on 592 children born to the same mother
For this study, the researchers followed 53,336 children born between 2001 and 2010 in Southern California. In this group, 592 children were diagnosed with autism. The researchers found that children with an older brother or sister with autism had an 11.3% risk of suffering from the same disorder, while this risk is only 0.92% in children whose brothers and sisters are not affected.
They also found that boys with an older brother with the disease were at higher risk than girls with a sister with autism (15% versus 7% respectively).
This study was published in the Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics.
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