Autistic behaviors among girls with fragile X syndrome

Reports of autistic behaviors were examined for 30 school-age girls with fragile X (fraX) and 31 age- and IQ-matched controls through a structured interview administered to each girl's parent(s). IQ scores were obtained for each participant; anxiety, neuroanatomical, and molecular-genetic data were derived for girls with fraX. Girls with fraX had significantly more autistic behaviors than controls. These behaviors were qualitatively similar to those reported for boys with fraX, but were not correlated with IQ. Anxiety in girls with fraX was positively correlated with abnormal social and communication behaviors; posterior cerebellar vermis area was negatively correlated with measures of communication and stereotypic/restricted behaviors. Severity of stereotypic/restricted behaviors was negatively correlated with the prevalence of active non-fraX chromosomes. Thus anxiety and posterior cerebellar area measures had distinct associations with subsets of autistic behaviors; these associations may have important implications for understanding the neurobiology of autism.