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Published on: October 3, 2018
Autism spectrum disorders in relation to parental occupation in technical fields
Gayle C Windham1, Karen Fessel, Judith K Grether
1Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California 94804, USA. gayle.windham@cdph.ca.gov
Summary
Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were more likely to work in highly technical fields compared to mothers of neurotypical children. This suggests parental occupation may be a factor in ASD research.
Area of Science:
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Genetics and Genomics
- Occupational Health
Background:
- Previous research suggested fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were overrepresented in engineering.
- This finding was potentially influenced by selection biases, necessitating further investigation.
- The concept of a distinct phenotype in ASD related to systemizing skills requires exploration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether parental occupations, specifically in highly technical fields, are overrepresented in families with children diagnosed with ASD.
- To examine potential differences between mothers and fathers in this association.
- To explore parental occupation as a potential phenotypic marker for ASD.
Main Methods:
- A population-based study included 284 children with ASD and 659 gender-matched controls born in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Parental occupations were extracted from birth certificates, focusing on engineering, computer programming, and science.
- Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for covariates.
Main Results:
- Mothers of children with ASD showed a trend towards higher employment in hi-tech occupations (6.7%) compared to mothers of controls (4.0%, P=0.07).
- No significant difference was observed in the representation of fathers in highly technical fields.
- Adjusted OR for highly technical occupations was 2.5 (95% CI: 1.2-5.3) for mothers and 1.3 (95% CI: 0.79-2.1) for fathers, relative to other white-collar jobs.
Conclusions:
- Maternal employment in highly technical fields is associated with an increased likelihood of having a child with ASD.
- The findings suggest parental occupation, particularly maternal, warrants further investigation in the context of ASD.
- Distinguishing between genetic loading, social factors, or environmental exposures related to parental occupation is crucial for future research.
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