Homogeneous Combinations of ASD-ADHD Traits and Their Cognitive and Behavioral Correlates in a Population-Based Sample.

Objective: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and ADHD are assumed to be the extreme manifestations of continuous heterogeneous traits that frequently co-occur. This study aims to identify subgroups of children with distinct ASD-ADHD trait profiles in the general population, using measures sensitive across both trait continua, and show how these subgroups differ in cognitive functioning.

Method: We examined 378 children (6-13 years) from a population-based sample.

Results: Latent class analyses (LCA) detected three concordant classes with low (10.1%), medium (54.2%), or high (13.2%) scores on both traits, and two discordant classes with more ADHD than ASD characteristics (ADHD > ASD, 18.3%) and vice versa (ASD > ADHD, 4.2%). Findings suggest that ASD and ADHD traits usually are strongly related in the unaffected population, and that a minority of children displays atypical discordant trait profiles characterized by differential visual-spatial functioning.

Conclusion: This dissociation suggests that heterogeneity in ASD and ADHD is rooted in heterogeneity in the lower unaffected end of the distribution.