title: Network approach to autistic traits: group and subgroup analyses of ADOS item scores.
abstract: A network conceptualization might contribute to understanding the occurrence and interacting nature of behavioral traits in the autism realm. Networks were constructed based on correlations of item scores of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule for Modules 1, 2 and 3 obtained for a group of 477 Dutch individuals with developmental disorders. After combining Modules, networks were obtained and compared for male versus female, high- versus low-functioning, seizure versus non-seizure, autism spectrum disorder versus intellectual disability, and younger versus older subjects. The network visualizations and calculated network parameters provide new perspectives that generate new hypothesis and suggest follow-up studies. The approach should be useful in characterizing individuals and groups, in elucidating mechanisms of trait generation and routes to outcome phenotypes, and in suggesting points of intervention.
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 S. Frontage Rd, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA. george.anderson@yale.edu.
authors.forename: George M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 S. Frontage Rd, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montazeri
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.|Accare, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Bildt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: ADOS item scores; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; Behavior; Network analysis