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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0151

Social and behavioral development in siblings of children with autism: a comparative case-control study

SOCIO-BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT IN SIBLINGS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN; A COMPARATIVE CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Siblings of children with autism showed more social and behavioral problems on both the Social Responsiveness Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire than children without a sibling with autism.

The aim was to assess social and behavioral development in siblings of children with autism (Sib A). This case-control study included 51 Sib A and 138 children without a sibling with autism (Sib H). Social development was assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), which comprises the social awareness, social cognition, social communication, social motivation, and restricted interests and behaviors subscales; behavioral functioning was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which includes the emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior subscales. The mean SRS score was 43.35 ± 36.84 in cases and 29.69 ± 11.20 in controls (p = 0.012), with differences between the groups on all subscales except social motivation (p < 0.05; p = 0.1 for social motivation). The mean SDQ score was 5.93 ± 5.53 in cases and 3.26 ± 2.57 in controls, a statistically significant difference (p = 0.011); the groups differed on all subscales except conduct problems (p < 0.05; p = 0.1 for conduct problems). In conclusion, siblings of children with autism have more social and behavioral problems than controls, and the authors note that genetic or upbringing-related factors contributing to these problems warrant investigation. The clinical implication is that siblings of children diagnosed with autism should also be monitored for social and emotional development.

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