Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:31:35.760Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Personality characteristics of the parents of autistic individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

J. Piven*
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
M. Wzorek
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
R. Landa
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
J. Lainhart
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
P. Bolton
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
G. A. Chase
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
S. Folstein
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Joseph Piven, Department of Psychiatry, 1875 Pappajohn Pavilion, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

Synopsis

Personality characteristics of 87 parents of autistic probands and 38 parents of Down's syndrome probands were examined using a standardized personality interview. Using best-estimate ratings derived from subject and informant interviews, parents of autistic individuals were rated significantly higher than controls on three characteristics: aloof, untactful and undemonstrative. When ratings were based on interviews with subjects only, parents of autistic probands were rated as significantly more aloof, untactful and unresponsive. There were no significant differences between parent groups on ratings based on informant interviews only. The implications of these findings for future family studies of autism are discussed.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arthur, G. (1952). The Arthur Adaptation of the Leiter International Performance Scale. The Psychological Services Center Press: Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
August, G. J., Stewart, M. A. & Tsai, L. (1981). The incidence of cognitive disabilities in the siblings of autistic children. British Journal of Psychiatry 138, 416422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, A., Le Couteur, A., Gottesman, I., Bolton, P., Simonoff, E., Yuzda, E. & Rutter, M. (1995). Autism is a strongly genetic disorder: evidence from a British twin study. Psychological Medicine (in the press).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baron, M., Gruen, R., Rainer, J. D., Kane, J., Asnis, L. & Lord, A. (1985). A family study of schizophrenic and normal control probands: implications for the spectrum concept of schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 142, 447455.Google ScholarPubMed
Baron-Cohen, S. (1988). Social and pragmatic deficits in autism: Cognitive or affective? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 18, 379401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bolton, P., Macdonald, H., Pickles, A., Rios, P., Goode, S., Crowson, M., Bailey, A. & Rutter, M. (1994). A case–control family study of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (in the press).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breslau, N. & Prabucki, K. (1987). Siblings of disabled children. Archives of General Psychiatry 44, 10401048.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cantwell, D. P., Baker, L. & Rutter, M. (1976). Family factors. In Autism: A Reappraisal of Concepts and Treatment (ed. Rutter, M. and Schopler, E.), pp. 269296. Plenum Press: New York.Google Scholar
Cantwell, D. P., Baker, L. & Rutter, M. (1979). Families of autistic and dysphasic children. Archives of General Psychiatry 36, 682687.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, A., Rutter, M., Newman, S. & Bartak, L. (1975). A comparative study of infantile autism and specific developmental receptive language disorder. II. Parental characteristics. British Journal of Psychiatry 126, 146159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeLong, R. G. & Dwyer, J. T. (1988). Correlation of family history with specific autistic subgroups: Asperger's syndrome and bipolar affective disease. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 18, 593600.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, S. E. & Piven, J. (1991). Etiology of autism: genetic influences. Pediatrics 87, 767773, 1991 Supplement.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, S. E. & Rutter, M. (1977). Infantile autism: a genetic study of 21 twin pairs. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 18, 297321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gillberg, C. (1989). Asperger syndrome in 23 Swedish children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 31, 520531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harrington, R., Hill, J., Rutter, M., John, K., Fudge, H.; Zoccolillo, M. & Weissman, M. (1988). The assessment of lifetime psychopathology: a comparison of two interviewing styles. Psychological Medicine 18, 487493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holroyd, J. & McArthur, D. (1976). Mental retardation and stress on the parents: a contrast between Down's syndrome and childhood autism. American Journal of Mental Deficiency 1, 431436.Google Scholar
Kanner, L. & Eisenberg, L. (1957). Early infantile autism, 1945–1955. In Psychiatric Research Reports, pp. 5565. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Kety, S. S., Rosenthal, D., Wender, P. H. & Schulsinger, F. (1968). The types and prevalence of mental illness in the biological and adoptive families of adopted schizophrenics. Journal of Psychiatric Research 6, 345362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kolvin, I., Garside, R. F. & Kidd, J. S. H. (1971). Parental personality and attitude and childhood psychoses. British Journal of Psychiatry 118, 403406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landa, R., Folstein, R. & Issacs, C. (1991). Spontaneous narrative discourse performance of parents of autistic individuals. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 34, 13391345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landa, R., Piven, J., Wzorek, M., Gayle, J., Cloud, D., Chase, G. & Folstein, S. (1992). Social language use in parents of autistic individuals. Psychological Medicine 22, 245254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Le Couteur, A., Rutter, M., Lord, C., Rios, P., Robertson, S., Holdgrafer, M. & McLennan, J. (1989). Autism diagnostic interview: a standardized investigator-based instrument. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 19, 363387.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lord, C., Rutter, M., Goode, S., Heemsbergen, J., Jordan, H., Mawhood, L. & Schopler, E. (1989). Autism diagnostic observation schedule: a standardized observation of communicative and social behavior. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 19, 185212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McAdoo, W. G. & DeMyer, M. K. (1976). Personality characteristics of parents. In Autism: A Reappraisal of Concepts and Treatments (ed. Rutter, M. and Schopler, E.), pp. 251267. Plenum Press: New York.Google Scholar
McCrae, R. (1982). Consensual validation of personality traits: evidence from self-reports and ratings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 43, 292303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. (1980). Classification of Occupations. Her Majesty's Stationery Office: London.Google Scholar
Pauls, D. L. & Leckman, J. F. (1986). The inheritance of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome and associated behaviors: evidence for autosomal dominant transmission. New England Journal of Medicine 315, 993997.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Piven, J., Gayle, J., Chase, G. A., Fink, B., Landa, R., Wzorek, M. & Folstein, S. (1990). A family history study of neuropsychiatric disorders in the adult siblings of autistic individuals. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry 29, 177183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Piven, J., Landa, R., Gayle, D., Cloud, D., Chase, G. & Folstein, S. (1991). Psychiatric disorders in the parents of autistic individuals. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 30, 471478.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ritvo, E. R., Spence, A., Freeman, B. J., Mason-Brothers, A., Mo, A. & Mazarita, M. (1985). Evidence for autosomal recessive inheritance in 46 families with multiplex incidences of autism. American Journal of Psychiatry 142, 187192.Google Scholar
Ritvo, E. R., Jorde, L. B., Mason-Brothers, A., Freeman, B. J., Pingree, C., Jones, M., McMahon, W., Peterson, B., Jenson, W. & Mo, A. (1989). The UCLA-University of Utah epidemiologic survey of autism: Recurrence risk estimates and genetic counseling. American Journal of Psychiatry 146, 10321036.Google ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1967). Psychotic disorders in early childhood. British Journal of Psychiatry, Special Publication 1, 133158.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. & Schopler, E. eds. (1988). Concepts and diagnostic issues. In Diagnosis and Assessment in Autism, pp. 1530. Plenum Press: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scarr, S., Webber, P. L., Weinberg, R. A. & Wittig, M. A. (1981). Personality resemblance among adolescents and their parents in biologically related and adoptive families. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 40, 885898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siever, L. J., Keefe, R., Bernstein, D. P., Coccaro, E., Klar, H., Zemishlang, Z., Peterson, A., Davidson, M., Mahon, T. & Horvath, T. (1990). Eye tracking impairment in clinically identified patients with schizotypal personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 147, 740745.Google ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R. L. & Endicott, J. (1978). Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, NIMH Clinical Research Branch, Collaborative Program on the Psychology of Depression, 3rd edn. US Government Printing Office: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Steffenberg, S., Gillberg, C. & Holmgren, L. (1989). A twin study of autism in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 30, 405416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stutsman, R. (1952). Guide for administering the Merrill–Palmer Scale of Mental Tests. In Mental Measurement of Preschool Children (ed. Terman, L. M.), pp. 139262. Harcourt, Brace and World: New York.Google Scholar
Tsai, L., Stewart, M. & August, G. (1981). Implication of sex differences in the familial transmission of infantile autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 11, 165174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyrer, P. (ed.) (1988). Personality Assessment Schedule. In Personality Disorders: Diagnosis, Management and Course, pp. 140167. Butterworth and Co.: London.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P. & Alexander, J. (1979). Classification of personality disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry 135, 163167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyrer, P., Cicchetti, D., Cohen, M. S. & Remington, M. (1979). Reliability of a schedule for rating personality disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 135, 168174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyrer, P., Strauss, J. & Cicchetti, D. (1983). Temporal reliability of personality in psychiatric patients. Psychological Medicine 13, 393398.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D. (1974). Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children – Revised. Psychological Corporation: New York.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Revised. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: New York.Google Scholar
Wolff, S., Narayan, S. & Moyes, B. (1988). Personality characteristics of parents of autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 29, 143153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1992). ICD-10. Categories F00–F99; Mental and Behavioural Disorders (Including Disorders of Psychological Development). Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. WHO: Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, M., Pfohl, B., Stangl, M. A. & Corenthal, C. (1986). Assessment of DSM-III personality disorders: the importance of interviewing an informant. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 47, 261263.Google ScholarPubMed
Zimmerman, M., Pfohl, B., Coryell, W., Stangl, D. & Corenthal, C. (1988). Diagnosing personality disorder in depressed patients. Archives of General Psychiatry 45, 733737.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed