Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a genetically based neurodevelopmental condition. A manifestation of this genetic liability is referred to as the Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP) - a set of mild personality and language features that are qualitatively similar to the core symptoms of ASD, and more common among first-degree relatives of individuals with ASD. As in ASD, the BAP has been explored mainly in areas of the difficulty in the social use of language, lack of interest in social interactions, and resistance to changes. There is strong evidence to the link between the BAP within the biological family and an increased risk for the diagnosis of ASD. However, the question of the relationship between the BAP and specific ASD characteristics remains open, partly due to the use of different methodological methods for the assessment of ASD characteristics in past research, which led to inconsistent findings.

The present study sought to examine the relationship between the BAP in parents of preschoolers with ASD and the child's ASD characteristics, which include the severity of autistic symptoms and child's daily and cognitive functioning. The BAP was evaluated using a parental self-report questionnaire, and the child's ASD characteristics were evaluated using a wide arrange of methods which included observational measures, parental interviews, and parental reports, in a sample of 67 children aged 3-5 with an ASD diagnosis, and their parents.

We hypothesized that greater parental BAP would be associated with the characteristics of the child's ASD, so that a elevated expression of parental BAP- both in each parent individually and as the combination of BAP in both parents- will lead to greater ASD severity and lower daily and cognitive functioning in the child. Moreover, following existing findings in the literature, we hypothesized that fathers will exhibit greater BAP compared to mothers.

No associations were found between BAP in fathers and mothers of children with ASD and child's ASD characteristics, except for a marginally significant association between the continuous measure of the BAP in fathers and the severity of child's ASD. In addition, no differences were found between fathers and mothers in the BAP. Theoretical and methodological explanations for the study results are discussed, as well as limitations of the present study and suggestions for further research.