Changes in Autism Traits from Early Childhood to Adolescence in the Study to Explore Early Development

The objectives of this study were to investigate associations between co-occurring developmental, psychiatric, behavioral, and medical symptoms and conditions and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits, as well as predictors of changes in autistic traits from early childhood to adolescence.

Participants from the Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) were identified as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n=707), another developmental disorder (DD) (n=995), or as a population comparison group (POP) (n=898). Caregivers completed the Social Responsiveness Scale-2nd edition (SRS-2) to measure autistic traits and were asked about co-occurring symptoms and conditions when their child was 2-5 years old and 12-16 years old. Children completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) when they were 2-5 years old.

Regression models revealed that in early childhood and adolescence, multiple co-occurring symptoms and conditions were significantly associated with higher SRS-2 scores (e.g., motor, sensory, and sleep problems for children with ASD and DD). Within the ASD and DD groups, but not the POP group, lower MSEL scores at childhood were associated with greater increases in SRS-2 scores between early childhood and adolescence.

Findings suggest that motor, sensory, and sleep problems may be important intervention targets for ASD and DD youth with elevated SRS-2 scores and that interventions that target cognitive functioning in childhood may be important to modify trajectories of autistic traits from childhood to adolescence.