5.34 ASD-Related Variation in Reciprocal Social Behavior: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

ASD is characterized primarily by early-onset deficits in reciprocal social behavior (RSB). Autism-related variation in RSB (AVR) is highly heritable and continuously distributed in the general population, with ASD representing the pathological tail of that continuum. Although the lifelong stability of ASD has been established, the course of AVR across its entire range of variation has yet to be examined. Therefore, this cohort-sequential longitudinal study was undertaken to evaluate the stability of AVR over the course of childhood and early adulthood across the entire range of variation in which it manifests itself in nature.