title: Factor structure of autistic traits in children with ADHD.
abstract: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often co-occur. Factor analyses of ASD traits in children with and without ASD indicate the presence of social and restrictive-repetitive behaviour (RRB) factors. This study used exploratory factor analyses to determine the structure of ASD traits (assessed using the Social Communication Questionnaire) in children with ADHD. Distinct factors were observed for 'social' and 'rigidity' traits, corresponding to previous factor analyses in clinical ASD and population samples. This indicates that the split between social-communicative and RRB dimensions is unaffected by ADHD in children. Moreover, the study also finds that there is some overlap across hyperactive-impulsive symptoms and RRB traits in children with ADHD, which merits further investigation.
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK, martinjm1@cardiff.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Marian L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hamshere
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: O'Donovan
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rutter
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thapar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires