Children with autism spectrum disorders: a comparison of those who regress vs. those who do not.
OBJECTIVE
While autism spectrum disorders (ASD) constitute a group of similar conditions, considerable heterogeneity in symptoms of these neurodevelopmental disorders have been noted. One of the most important, yet least studied, of these factors is developmental regression.


METHODS
One-hundred and twenty-five children were studied and broken down into the following three groups: ASD children with and without substantial regression and typically developing children. In study one, the three groups were compared on global measures of ASD symptomatology, comorbid psychopathology, challenging behaviour and social skills. In study two, the two ASD groups were compared on each individual item from the dependent measures.


RESULTS
Mean age when regression occurred was 27.76 months. The ASD children as a whole differed from the typically developing controls, showing more symptoms of ASD, as would be expected, and poorer social skills, while differences were also noted between the two ASD groups.


CONCLUSIONS
It was determined that children with ASD who regress present with a distinct behavioural profile when compared to children with ASD who do not regress, which included greater levels of impairment on global measures of ASD symptomatology, comorbid psychopathology, challenging behaviour and social skills.
Matson
Johnny L
JL
Louisiana State University, Psychology, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. johnmatson@aol.com
Wilkins
Jonathan
J
Fodstad
Jill C
JC
D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012043:Regression, Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires