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Psychiatric disorders in the parents of individuals with infantile autism: a case-control study

Svend Erik Mouridsen1, Bente Rich, Torben Isager

  • 1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. sem01@bbh.hosp.dk

Psychopathology
|February 24, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Mothers of children with infantile autism (IA) have higher rates of psychiatric disorders, particularly personality disorders, compared to the general population. This highlights the importance of considering parental mental health in autism research.

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Investigating the prevalence and types of psychiatric disorders in parents of individuals with infantile autism (IA).
  • Understanding the potential genetic and environmental factors contributing to autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if parents of children with IA exhibit a higher incidence of psychiatric disorders compared to a control group.
  • To identify specific psychiatric diagnoses that are overrepresented in mothers of children with IA.

Main Methods:

  • Screening of psychiatric disorders in parents of 115 IA individuals and 330 controls using the Danish Psychiatric Central Register over 33 years.
  • IA individuals were identified from inpatient records at two university child psychiatry clinics over a 25-year period.

Main Results:

  • Psychiatric disorders were diagnosed in 15.7% of mothers with autistic children versus 8.2% in controls (p < 0.05).
  • A statistically significant overrepresentation of personality disorders was observed in mothers of children with IA (7.8%) compared to controls (2.1%).

Conclusions:

  • Parental psychiatric disorders, especially personality disorders, are more common in families with infantile autism.
  • Future research should carefully consider the examination of relatives, control group selection, and data collection methodologies.
Abstract

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