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Children diagnosed with autism before the age of six tend to have different traits to those who are diagnosed later in life.Credit: Matt Roth for The Washington Post\/Getty<\/p>\n
The age at which a person is diagnosed with autism<\/a> is sometimes linked to their genetic make-up and their risk of developing mental-health conditions<\/a>, according to an analysis of behavioural and genetic data1<\/a>. Children who are diagnosed early \u2014 typically before six years old \u2014 are more likely to experience social and behavioral challenges during infancy and early childhood, whereas those who are diagnosed later experience higher rates of conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder<\/a> (ADHD) and depression.<\/p>\n Differences in genetic profiles seem to account for about 11% of this distinction. The findings, published today in Nature, counter previous assumptions that later diagnoses mainly occurr in children who exhibit milder autistic traits overall, or experience delays in diagnosis owing to social factors, such as access to health care, says Varun Warrier, who studies neurodevelopment at the University of Cambridge, UK, and is a lead author on the study.<\/p>\n Gestational diabetes linked to autism in study: what scientists say<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n But the results do not mean that autistic people fall neatly into two categories, he adds. \u201cWhat we are looking at are the averages underlying these groups,\u201d he says. And the age at diagnosis is still only an imperfect proxy for the developmental and genetic differences the study found: factors such as delays in accessing health care can still exert a big effect.<\/p>\n The findings could spark further research to improve diagnoses and better personalize support for autistic people<\/a>, Warrier adds. \u201cThe more you understand about a condition and what gives rise to the risk for it, the better your understanding of how to diagnose it and how to treat it,\u201d says Elliot Tucker-Drob, who studies developmental psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n No single cause<\/p>\n Autism is a complex condition that affects brain development<\/a> and can cause repetitive behaviours and difficulties with social communication. There is no single cause of autism<\/a>. Last week, US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr called the search for genetic drivers of the condition \u201centirely fruitless\u201d, but, in fact, researchers have found the heritabilty of autism to be about 80%.<\/p>\n Those genetic factors, and the traits that they influence, are extraordinarily diverse. \u201cIt\u2019s been such a challenge to really parse the genetics of autism,\u201d says Natalie Sauerwald, who studies genomics at the Flatiron Institute in New York City. In one study published this year, for example, Sauerwald and her colleagues incorporated data on nearly 240 characteristics of autism, including behavioural traits2<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not exactly a two-question questionnaire,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Diagnostic patterns<\/p>\n Warrier\u2019s research into this complexity began with a simple question: why are some children diagnosed with autism at a young age, and others diagnosed later, sometimes well into adolescence or beyond?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/d41586-025-03180-8_51500828.jpg\"\/)
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