Mood disorders occur more frequently in family members of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) than in the general population. There may be associations between maternal mood disorder history patterns and specific ASD phenotypes. We therefore examined the relationship between maternal mood disorders and child autism spectrum disorders in 998 mother-child dyads enrolled in a national online autism registry and database. Mothers of children with ASD completed online questionnaires addressing their child’s ASD as well as their own mood disorder history. In multivariate logistic regression models of ASD diagnoses, the odds of an Asperger disorder versus autistic disorder diagnosis were higher among those children whose mothers had a lifetime history of bipolar disorder (OR 2.11, CI 1.20, 3.69) or depression (OR 1.62, CI 1.19, 2.19). Further, maternal mood disorder onset before first pregnancy was associated with higher odds (OR 2.35, CI 1.48, 3.73) of an Asperger versus autism diagnosis among this sample of children with ASD. These data suggest that differences in maternal mood disorder history may be associated with ASD phenotype in offspring. 1. Introduction A higher prevalence of depression and bipolar disorder has been consistently reported in family members of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared with family members of children with other types of disabilities [1–3]. Furthermore, a large population study found that parents of children with autism were more likely to have been diagnosed with and hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder than parents of children in the general population [4]. It has been suggested that a history of parental mood disorder may be more strongly associated with certain ASD phenotypes. DeLong [5] hypothesized that there may be two “taxa” of ASD, one that is higher functioning, with prominent anxiety, obsessiveness, mood disorder, and a family history of major mood disorder, and another that is lower functioning, with a history of language and learning disability and no family history of mood disorder. Two studies have found that prevalence, types, and patterns of familial mood disorders indeed vary by ASD phenotype. DeLong and Dwyer [6] were the first to report such an association in their exploration of the family history of 51 individuals with ASD and a wide range of cognitive abilities. Their data revealed higher rates of Asperger disorder (also known as Asperger syndrome) in families of subjects with a verbal IQ (VIQ) greater than or equal to 70 compared to those with lower VIQs (68% versus
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