Autism Risk Increases When Children Are Abandoned In Institutions

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD's) are reported in all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

Now, new findings published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry show that children who were abandoned via institutional care may be at an increased risk for the behavioral health problem.

For the study, researchers examined 136 children who were abandoned at birth and raised in institutions in Bucharest, Romania as part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. All were randomly assigned to either continue care at an institution or receive higher foster care while investigations were maintained. The children were about 23 months old at the time when they were placed in various groups.

By the age of 10, 117 children were assessed. The children's primary caregivers were asked to fill out the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), which helps assess symptoms that are associated with autism, including various social communication skills. Those with concern for possible autism were then referred for a full neurodevelopmental evaluation to determine whether they met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for autism.

Institutional care was linked to autistic traits in the study. Researchers found that five children with a history of institutional care met the DSM diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, a comparison group of 100 age-matched and never institutionalized children living in the area did not meet any of the criteria for an ASD. Fortunately, for many at risk via institutional care, related ASD behaviors could be improved with the help of an early intervention of quality foster care.

"Although the institutionalized children with autism resemble children with autism in the general population, the origins of their symptoms are very different," concluded Charles A. Nelson PhD of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who is senior author on the paper, in a news release. "We believe that both groups suffer deprivation, but of different types: In institutionalized children, the deprivation comes from their environment, while in the general population, the autism itself causes a kind of deprivation, making it harder for children to perceive and understand social cues."

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