Socio-Behavioral Development in Siblings of Autistic Children; A Comparative Case-Control Study

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a psychiatric disorder with a spectrum of symptoms, including impaired social interactions, impaired verbal and non-verbal communications, and limited and repetitive patterns of behaviors. The incidence of social and emotional disorders in siblings of an autistic child and relationship with having an autistic sibling is a matter of debate. The current study is aimed to assess the socio-behavioral development in the sibling of an autistic child (Sib-A). Methods: The current case-control study has been conducted on 51 Sib-A and 138 children without any autistic sibling (Sib-H). In order to assess social development, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) that consists of 5 subscales of social awareness, social cognition, social communication, social motivation, and restricted interests and behavior was used. The behavioral status was assessed using the Strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) in 5 subscales of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer communications problems, and prosocial behaviors. Eventually, the findings of the two groups were compared. Results: The mean score of SRS in cases was 43.35±36.84 and in controls 29.69 ± 11.20 (P-value = 0.012). Besides, the two groups were different in all subscales (P-value < 0.05) except social motivation (P-value = 0.1). The comparison of SDQ revealed a significant difference between the cases with a mean score of 5.93±5.53 and controls with 3.26 ± 2.57 (P-value = 0.011). Besides, the two groups were different in all subscales (P-value < 0.05) except for conduct problems (P-value = 0.1). Conclusion: The siblings of autistic children showed more socio-behavioral problems than the controls. The genetically or nurturing of these problems should be investigated.

Keywords:

Autism , Autism Spectrum Disorder , Siblings