Comorbidity and Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorders and ADHD in Children: A Clinically-Based Study

Abstract

Objective: We examined the characteristics and heritability of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ADHD through a twin study. Method: Our sample included 44 twins, with at least one twin diagnosed with ASD. Among the participants, 30 had ASD, and 18 of them also had coexisting ADHD. Results: We observed higher concordance rates for ASD in monozygotic twins compared to dizygotic twins (67% vs. 25%), indicating a genetic influence on ASD. Inattentive symptoms of ADHD were more prevalent in monozygotic twins. The ASD + ADHD group exhibited significantly higher Social Responsiveness Scale scores, indicating greater social difficulties compared to the ASD and typical development groups. Twin analyses revealed that shared genetic factors accounted for 72.25% of the variance in both ASD and ADHD symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the comorbidity of ASD and ADHD may indicate increased severity and can be explained by shared genetic factors underlying both conditions.