Abstract

Subclinical levels of autism traits are known as the Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP) and include a rigid personality, aloof personality, and pragmatic language difficulties. Genetic relatives of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), males, and those in math- or science-oriented careers may be more likely to exhibit BAP. This study examined the prevalence of BAP in young adults to assess the influence of genetic relationship to ASD, gender, and academic field. Online self-report data from 170 undergraduate college students included the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ), information about genetic relationship to ASD, and demographic information. Results showed no relationship between BAP and level of shared ASD genes, gender, or academic major. However, 25.3% of our college-aged sample met BAP cutoffs, compared to previous estimates of only 5–9% of adult parents of neurotypical children and 14–23% of parents of children with ASD. These findings expand our understanding of subclinical autistic traits in young adults. This research highlights the need to investigate community-based samples of various age groups when estimating the prevalence of BAP to better-understand the extent to which these personality characteristics are present in the general population.

摘要

自闭症特征的亚临床水平被称为广泛自闭症表型（BAP），包括僵化的个性、冷漠的个性和务实的语言困难。自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 儿童、男性以及从事数学或科学职业的儿童的遗传亲属可能更有可能表现出 BAP。本研究检查了 BAP 在年轻人中的患病率，以评估遗传关系对 ASD、性别和学术领域的影响。来自 170 名本科大学生的在线自我报告数据包括广泛自闭症表型问卷 ( BAPQ))、与 ASD 的遗传关系信息以及人口统计信息。结果显示 BAP 与 ASD 基因共享水平、性别或学术专业之间没有关系。然而，我们的大学年龄样本中有 25.3% 符合 BAP 临界值，而之前估计只有 5-9% 的神经典型儿童的成年父母和 14-23% 的 ASD 儿童的父母。这些发现扩大了我们对年轻人亚临床自闭症特征的理解。这项研究强调，在估计 BAP 的患病率时，需要调查不同年龄组的社区样本，以更好地了解这些人格特征在一般人群中的存在程度。