Behavioral Phenotype of Fragile X Syndrome in Adolescence and Adulthood

Leann E. Smith, Erin T. Barker, Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Leonard Abbeduto, Jan S. Greenberg

University of Wisconsin—Madison

The present study explored the behavioral profile of individuals with fragile X syndrome during adolescence and adulthood. Individuals with both fragile X syndrome and autism (n  =  30) were compared with (a) individuals diagnosed with fragile X syndrome (but not autism; n  =  106) and (b) individuals diagnosed with autism (but not fragile X syndrome; n  =  135) on measures of autism symptoms, adaptive functioning, behavior problems, and psychological symptoms. Results indicated that individuals dually diagnosed with fragile X syndrome and autism displayed greater communication and social reciprocity impairments than individuals with fragile X syndrome only. Individuals in the dually diagnosed group also exhibited higher levels of repetitive and challenging behaviors than either comparison group, suggesting a unique profile of vulnerability for those diagnosed with both fragile X syndrome and autism.

Editor-in-Charge: Debbie Fidler

This study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG08768 to M. M. Seltzer) and from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) at the University of North Carolina (P30 HD003100-S1) to support the Fragile X Research Center. The Fragile X Research Center has three additional sites (Research Triangle Institute International, the University of Wisconsin—Madison, and University of Kansas). The present analysis was based on data collected at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, Waisman Center site (M. M. Seltzer, principal investigator).

We are extremely grateful to the families who participated in this study; without their generous support and commitment, our research would not be possible. We would like to thank the National Fragile X Foundation for providing informational materials to share with families. We are also grateful for the support we received from the Waisman Center (P30 HD03352, M. M. Seltzer, principal investigator).

Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to Leann E Smith, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Waisman Center, 1500 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53705, Email: lsmith@waisman.wisc.edu

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