Abstract
Recent studies have suggested that sensory processing atypicalities may share genetic influences with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To further investigate this, the adolescent/adult sensory profile (AASP) questionnaire was distributed to 85 parents of typically developing children (P-TD), 121 parents from simplex ASD families (SPX), and 54 parents from multiplex ASD families (MPX). After controlling for gender and presence of mental disorders, results showed that MPX parents significantly differed from P-TD parents in all four subscales of the AASP. Differences between SPX and MPX parents reached significance in the Sensory Sensitivity subscale and also in subsequent modality-specific analyses in the auditory and visual domains. Our finding that parents with high genetic liability for ASD (i.e., MPX) had more sensory processing atypicalities than parents with low (i.e., SPX) or no (i.e., P-TD) ASD genetic liability suggests that sensory processing atypicalities may contribute to the genetic susceptibility for ASD.
Highlights
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is primarily characterized by social/communication deficits and restricted repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association [APA] 2013)
This study investigated the hypothesis that sensory processing, as measured by the adolescent/adult sensory profile, would differ among parents of typically developing children and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from simplex ASD families (SPX) and multiplex ASD families (MPX) families
Results supported this hypothesis by showing that, after controlling for gender and mental disorders, MPX parents scored significantly lower than parents of typically developing children (P-typically developing (TD)) parents in Sensory Seeking, and significantly higher than P-TD parents in the Low Registration, Sensation Avoidance, and Sensory Sensitivity quadrants of the adolescent/adult sensory profile (AASP)
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is primarily characterized by social/communication deficits and restricted repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association [APA] 2013). Evidence of sensory processing abnormalities in individuals with ASD has been demonstrated throughout a variety of measurements and samples consisting of children (Adamson et al 2006; Baranek et al 2006; Kirby et al 2015; Leekam et al 2007; Tomchek and Dunn 2007; Tomchek et al 2014) and adults (Cascio et al 2008; Crane et al 2009; Grandin 1992; Leekam et al 2007; Tavassoli et al 2014) with ASD, including physiological evidence showing hyperresponsive brain activity in reaction to sensory stimuli in ASD youth (Green et al 2013) Consistent with these findings, ‘‘hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment’’ was added as one of the four symptom subcategories defining ‘‘repeated, repetitive behaviors’’ of ASD in the newest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5; APA 2013), proposing abnormal sensory processing as a significant feature of ASD. They found that behavioral and parent-report measurements of tactile hyperresponsivity in typically developing children were associated with common variations in the GABRB3 candidate gene, further supporting genetic implications of sensory processing abnormalities in ASD
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