Communication is a core challenge for individuals on the autism spectrum, and many autistic individuals experience challenges with language. Prospective studies of younger siblings of children with autism show that siblings not only have an increased likelihood of developing autism themselves, but that even siblings without an autism spectrum diagnosis are more likely to have a language delay as toddlers than their peers without familial history of autism (Marrus et al., 2018). While there is substantial variability in the communicative abilities of siblings of children with autism in toddlerhood, it is not clear how these differences translate beyond the first 3 years of life. The present study used meta-analysis to evaluate a wide range of literature and determine whether siblings of children with autism (Sibs-A) over 48 months of age differ from comparison groups in their language and communication abilities. A total of 26 studies describing 22 cohorts were included. Over 2,000 Sibs-A were compared with neurotypical individuals without familial history of autism or siblings of individuals with another neurodevelopmental disability. Meta-analysis revealed a small but significant effect such that Sibs-A performed lower than comparison peers in overall language and communication. Effects were strongest for expressive language and linguistic processing speed, and there were substantially larger differences for experimenter-administered measures than for parent-report, though findings must be considered in the context of other study characteristics. Suggestions based on this meta-analytic review are provided to guide future research in understanding individual differences in the communicative development and outcomes of Sibs-A. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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超越幼儿期：自闭症谱系障碍儿童兄弟姐妹交流能力的荟萃分析。

沟通是自闭症谱系个体的核心挑战，许多自闭症个体在语言方面遇到挑战。对自闭症儿童的弟妹的前瞻性研究表明，兄弟姐妹不仅自己患自闭症的可能性增加，而且即使是没有自闭症谱系诊断的兄弟姐妹也比没有自闭症家族史的同龄人更可能在蹒跚学步时出现语言延迟（Marrus 等人，2018 年）。虽然幼儿期自闭症儿童的兄弟姐妹的交流能力存在很大差异，但尚不清楚这些差异如何在生命的前 3 年之后转化。本研究使用荟萃分析来评估广泛的文献，并确定 48 个月以上的自闭症儿童 (Sibs-A) 的兄弟姐妹在语言和沟通能力方面是否与对照组不同。共纳入了 26 项研究，描述了 22 个队列。将超过 2,000 名 Sibs-A 与没有自闭症家族史的神经典型个体或患有其他神经发育障碍的个体的兄弟姐妹进行了比较。荟萃分析揭示了一个小而显着的影响，即 Sibs-A 在整体语言和交流方面的表现低于比较同行。表达语言和语言处理速度的效果最强，实验者管理的措施的差异比家长报告的差异要大得多，尽管必须在其他研究特征的背景下考虑研究结果。提供了基于此元分析评论的建议，以指导未来的研究，以了解 Sibs-A 的交际发展和结果中的个体差异。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。