Autistic people show diverse trajectories of autistic traits over time, a phenomenon labelled ‘chronogeneity’. For example, some show a decrease in symptoms, whilst others experience an intensification of difficulties. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a dimensional condition, representing one end of a trait continuum that extends throughout the population. To date, no studies have investigated chronogeneity across the full range of autistic traits. We investigated the nature and clinical significance of autism trait chronogeneity in a large, general population sample.

Autistic social/communication traits (ASTs) were measured in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children using the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) at ages 7, 10, 13 and 16 (N = 9744). We used Growth Mixture Modelling (GMM) to identify groups defined by their AST trajectories. Measures of ASD diagnosis, sex, IQ and mental health (internalising and externalising) were used to investigate external validity of the derived trajectory groups.

The selected GMM model identified four AST trajectory groups: (i) Persistent High (2.3% of sample), (ii) Persistent Low (83.5%), (iii) Increasing (7.3%) and (iv) Decreasing (6.9%) trajectories. The Increasing group, in which females were a slight majority (53.2%), showed dramatic increases in SCDC scores during adolescence, accompanied by escalating internalising and externalising difficulties. Two-thirds (63.6%) of the Decreasing group were male.

Clinicians should note that for some young people autism-trait-like social difficulties first emerge during adolescence accompanied by problems with mood, anxiety, conduct and attention. A converse, majority-male group shows decreasing social difficulties during adolescence.

随着时间的推移，自闭症患者表现出不同的自闭症特征轨迹，这种现象被称为“时序性”。例如，一些人的症状有所减轻，而另一些人则感到困难加剧。自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 是一种维度条件，代表延伸到整个人群的特征连续体的一端。迄今为止，还没有研究调查所有自闭症特征的时序性。我们调查了大型普通人群样本中自闭症特征时序性的性质和临床意义。

自闭症社交/沟通特征 (ASTs) 在雅芳家长和儿童纵向研究中使用社交和沟通障碍检查表 (SCDC) 在 7、10、13 和 16 岁时测量（N = 9744 ）。我们使用生长混合模型 (GMM) 来识别由其 AST 轨迹定义的组。ASD 诊断、性别、智商和心理健康（内化和外化）的措施被用来调查派生轨迹组的外部有效性。

选定的 GMM 模型确定了四个 AST 轨迹组：(i) 持续高（样本的 2.3%），（ii）持续低（83.5%），（iii）增加（7.3%）和（iv）减少（6.9%）轨迹. 女性略占多数 (53.2%) 的增加组在青春期 SCDC 分数显着增加，伴随着不断升级的内化和外化困难。减少组的三分之二 (63.6%) 是男性。

临床医生应该注意到，对于一些年轻人来说，类似自闭症特质的社交困难首先出现在青春期，伴随着情绪、焦虑、行为和注意力方面的问题。相反，男性占多数的群体在青春期表现出社交困难的减少。