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The Association of Paternal IQ With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Its Comorbidities: A Population-Based Cohort Study
Journal article   Open access

The Association of Paternal IQ With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Its Comorbidities: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Renee M. Gardner, Christina Dalman, Dheeraj Rai, Brian K. Lee and Hakan Karlsson
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, v 59(3), pp 410-421
01 Mar 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2019.04.004
PMID: 31026573
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2019.04.004View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Pediatrics Psychiatry Psychology Psychology, Developmental Science & Technology Social Sciences
Objective: Original case descriptions of autism noted that parents of the affected children tended to be highly educated and intelligent, a characterization that has endured publicly. Recent genetic studies indicate that risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is associated with high intelligence. We examined the association between paternal intelligence and ASD, considering co-occurring intellectual disability (ID) and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: We used a register-based cohort study design including 360,151 individuals with fathers conscripted to the Swedish military, resident in Stockholm, Sweden, born from 1984 to 2008, and followed until December 31, 2011, for diagnosis of ASD, ADHD, and/or ID. Risk of neurodevelopmental disorders relative to paternal IQ (rated on a 9-point scale) was assessed using a score of 5 (average intelligence) as the referent in models accounting for potentially nonlinear relationships and clustering of siblings. Results: We observed an association between high paternal IQ and offspring risk of ASD without ID/ADHD in models adjusted for individual and family characteristics (ORIQ = 9 1.32, 95% CI 1.15-1.52), an association that appeared to be driven largely by the fathers' score on the technical comprehension portion of the test (ORTechnical (IQ = 9) 1.53, 95% CI 1.31-1.78). Conversely, low paternal IQ was associated with ASD+ID (ORIQ = (1)1.78, 95% CI 1.27-2.49) and ASD+ADHD (OR(IQ = 1)1.40, 95% CI 1.16-1.70); low paternal IQ was strongly associated with ID (ORIQ = 1 4.46, 95% CI 3.62-5.49) and present also for ADHD (OR(IQ = 1)1.56, 95% CI 1.42-1.72)] without co-occurring ASD or ID. Conclusion: The relationship between paternal IQ and offspring risk of ASD was nonmonotonic and varied by the presence of co-occurring disorders, probably reflecting phenotypic diversity among affected individuals.

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9 citations in Web of Science
11 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Pediatrics
Psychiatry
Psychology, Developmental
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