Crossref journal-article
Wiley
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (311)
Abstract

The diagnostic boundaries of the behavioural phenotype for autism were examined in 28 MZ pairs and 20 DZ same‐sex twin pairs, where one or both twins had autism. In the non‐autistic cotwin (i.e. In twin pairs discordant for autism) it was common to find language impairments in childhood and social deficits persisting into adulthood. Concordance for this broader phenotype was much greater in MZ pairs than DZ pairs, indicating a strong genetic component. Behavioural and cognitive manifestations of autism were compared both within and between MZ twin pairs. The variation was as great within MZ twin pairs as between pairs, suggesting that it does not index genetic heterogeneity (although aetiological heterogeneity probably exists). Current diagnostic practices need re‐evaluation.

Bibliography

Le Couteur, A., Bailey, A., Goode, S., Pickles, A., Gottesman, I., Robertson, S., & Rutter, M. (1996). A Broader Phenotype of Autism: The Clinical Spectrum in Twins. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37(7), 785–801. Portico.

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  1. Ann Le Couteur (first)
  2. Anthony Bailey (additional)
  3. Susan Goode (additional)
  4. Andrew Pickles (additional)
  5. Irving Gottesman (additional)
  6. Sarah Robertson (additional)
  7. Michael Rutter (additional)
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Dates
Type When
Created 18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 7, 2006, 8:12 p.m.)
Deposited 1 year, 10 months ago (Oct. 26, 2023, 9 p.m.)
Indexed 1 week ago (Aug. 28, 2025, 8:47 a.m.)
Issued 28 years, 11 months ago (Oct. 1, 1996)
Published 28 years, 11 months ago (Oct. 1, 1996)
Published Online 18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 7, 2006)
Published Print 28 years, 11 months ago (Oct. 1, 1996)
Funders 0

None

@article{Le_Couteur_1996, title={A Broader Phenotype of Autism: The Clinical Spectrum in Twins}, volume={37}, ISSN={1469-7610}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01475.x}, DOI={10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01475.x}, number={7}, journal={Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Le Couteur, Ann and Bailey, Anthony and Goode, Susan and Pickles, Andrew and Gottesman, Irving and Robertson, Sarah and Rutter, Michael}, year={1996}, month=oct, pages={785–801} }