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Developmental trajectories of restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests in children with autism spectrum disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2010

Jennifer Richler ,
Marisela Huerta ,
Somer L. Bishop  and
Catherine Lord
Jennifer Richler*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
Marisela Huerta
Affiliation:
University of Illinois–Chicago
Somer L. Bishop
Affiliation:
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Catherine Lord
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Jennifer Richler, 1322 South Dunn Street, Bloomington, IN 47401; E-mail: jrichler@gmail.com.
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Abstract

This study examined how restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests (RRBs) developed over time in a sample of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). One hundred ninety-two children referred for a diagnosis of autism at age 2, and 22 children with nonspectrum development disorders were evaluated with a battery of cognitive and diagnostic measures at age 2 and subsequently at ages 3, 5, and 9. Factor analysis of the RRB items on the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised revealed two RRB factors at each wave of data collection, one comprising “repetitive sensorimotor” (RSM) behaviors and the other “insistence on sameness” (IS) behaviors. For children with ASD, RSM scores remained relatively high over time, indicating consistent severity, whereas IS scores started low and increased over time, indicating worsening. Having a higher nonverbal intelligence (NVIQ) at age 2 was associated with milder concurrent RSM behaviors and with improvement in these behaviors over time. There was no relationship between NVIQ at age 2 and IS behaviors. However, milder social/communicative impairment, at age 2 was associated with more severe concurrent IS behaviors. Trajectory analysis revealed considerable heterogeneity in patterns of change over time for both kinds of behaviors. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of RRBs in ASD and other disorders, making prognoses about how RRBs will develop in children with ASD as they get older, and using RRBs to identify ASD phenotypes in genetic studies.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 55 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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