Assessment of Restrictive/Repetitive Behaviors in Probands and Parents

Ruth K. Abramson, PhD1, Alicia Hall, PhD2, Michael L. Cuccaro, PhD3, John Gilbert4, Margaret Pericak-Vance4, and Harry H. Wright, MD1. (1) Neuropsychiatry, Univ. S. Carolina Sch. Med., Columbia, SC 29203, (2) Communication Disorders, Univ. S. Carolina Sch. Public Health, (3) Miami Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami School of Medicine, 1120 NW 14th Street, Miami, FL 33141, (4) Medicine, Miami institute of human genomics, 1120 NW 14th ST, Miami, FL 33136

Background: The relationship between restrictive/repetitive behaviors (RRBs) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and their parents remains a subject of interest stemming from characterization of the broader autism phenotype (BAP) in parents, the range of RRBs in the child, and the familiality of this trait as an endophenotype.

Objectives: To characterize the broader range of RRBs in children with an ASD with a parent with RRBs.

Methods: Parents (n=142) and children (n=174) were enrolled from a genetic study of ASDs. In multiplex families, the first affected proband was included in the analysis. Parents completed the YBOCS for themselves and the Repetitive Behavior Scales Revised (1999) for their children.

Results: A majority of parents (60.5%) did not have clinically significant YBOCS scores; 14.8% had mild, 9.9% moderate and 3.5% severe scores. Level of severity of YBOCS and RBS-R scores were evaluated by one-way ANOVA. Parents with clinically severe YBOCS scores (24 or greater) reported significantly more RRBs in their children (F=4.471, df=2, p=0.02). Pearson correlations were significant for YBOCS total score and RBS-R total score (r=0.304**), and subscale scores: Compulsive Behavior (r=0.207*), Ritualistic Behavior (r=0.296**), Sameness Behavior (r=0.308**) and Restricted Behavior (r=0.229*). RBS-R Stereotyped and Self-Injurious behavior subscales were not correlated with parental YBOCS total score. Seventeen multiplex families had 2 or more sibs with an ASD. The difference in RBS-R total scores, whether high or low, between sibs was less than 5-7 points for 53% and 10-14 points for 76%.

Conclusions: Parents with clinically severe YBOCS scores report higher levels of RRBS in their children with an ASD. We found significant RRBs in 3.5% of parents, similar to Dawson (2007) who reported 4% of parents with significant RRBs from the BPASS. BAP parents need to be assessed for comorbid OCD.**p<0.01 *p<0.05 supported by NIH grant 2R01 NS16768-08