Abstract
Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) on the Autism Diagnostic Interview– Revised (ADI-R: Lord, Rutter, & Le Couteur (1994) were examined in 165 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), 49 children with non-spectrum developmental disorders (DD), and 65 children with typical development (TD) at approximately 2 years of age. A factor analysis found evidence for a repetitive sensorimotor (RSM) factor and an insistence on sameness (IS) factor. Behaviors that loaded on the RSM factor were prevalent in children with ASD and significantly more common and severe than in children with DD or TD. On average, children with ASD had more RSM behaviors. Behaviors that loaded on the IS factor were relatively uncommon and did not differ in prevalence or severity across groups.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Henceforth, the term ‘autism spectrum disorders’ will be used as an umbrella term, encompassing Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder—Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger’s Disorder, as defined by DSM-IV criteria. The term ‘autism’ will be used to refer to more narrowly defined Autistic Disorder.
References
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 4. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Baranek, G. T. (1999). Autism during infancy: A retrospective video analysis of sensory-motor and social behaviors at 9–12 months of age. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 29, 213–224.
Bayley, N. (1993). Bayley Scales of Infant Development 2. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.
Bishop, S. L., Richler, J., & Lord, C. (2006). Restricted and repetitive behaviors and nonverbal IQ in children with autism spectrum disorders. Child Neuropsychology, 12, 247–267.
Bodfish, J. W., Symons, F. J., Parker, D. E., & Lewis, M. H. (2000). Varieties of repetitive behavior in autism: Comparisons to mental retardation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 237–243.
Charman, T., Taylor, E., Drew, A., Cockerill, H., Brown, J. A., & Baird, G. (2005). Outcome at 7 years of children diagnosed with autism at age 2: Predictive validity of assessments conducted at 2 and 3 years of age and pattern of symptom change over time. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 500–513.
Cox, A., Klein, K., Charman, T., Baird, G., Baron-Cohen, S., Swettenham, J., Drew, A., Wheelwright, S., & Nightingale, N. (1999). Autism spectrum disorders at 20 and 42 months of age: Stability of clinical and ADI-R diagnosis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 719–732.
Cuccaro, M. L., Shao, Y., Grubber, J., Slifer, M., Wolpert, C. M., Donnelly, S. L., Abramson, R. K., Ravan, S. A., Wright, H. H., DeLong, R. G., & Pericak-Vance, M. A. (2003). Factor analysis of restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-R. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 1, 3–17.
DiLavore, P., Lord, C., & Rutter, M. (1995). Pre-linguistic autism diagnostic observation schedule. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 255–379.
Evans, D. W., Leckman, J. F., Carter, A., Reznick, J. S., Henshaw, D., King, R. A., & Pauls, D. (1997). Ritual, habit, and perfectionism: The prevalence and development of compulsive-like behavior in normal young children. Child Development, 68, 58–68.
Gabriels, R. L., Cuccaro, M. L., Hill, D. E., Ivers, B. J., & Goldson, E. (2005). Repetitive behaviors in autism: Relationships with associated clinical features. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26, 169–181.
Howlin, P., Goode, S., Hutton, J., & Rutter, M. (2004). Adult outcome for children with autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 212–229.
Hus, V., Pickles, A., Cook, E. H., Risi, S., & Lord, C. (in press). Using the ADI-R to increase phenotypic homogeneity in genetic studies of autism. Biological Psychiatry.
Lord, C. (1995). Follow-up of two-year-olds referred for possible autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 36, 1365–1382.
Lord, C., Risi, S., DiLavore, P., Shulman, C., Thurm, A., & Pickles, A. (2006). Autism from two to nine. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 694–701.
Lord, C., Rutter, M., DiLavore, P. C., & Risi, S. (1999). Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (WPS ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 659–685.
Lord, C., Shulman, C., & DiLavore, P. (2004). Regression and word loss in autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 936–955.
Mahone, E. M., Bridges, D., Prahme, C., & Singer, H. S. (2004). Repetitive arm and hand movements (complex motor stereotypies) in children. Journal of Pediatrics, 145, 391–395.
Moore, V., & Goodson, S. (2003). How well does early diagnosis of autism stand the test of time? Follow-up study of children assessed for autism at age 2 and development of an early diagnostic service. Autism, 7, 47–63.
Mullen, E. (1995). The Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service Inc.
Silverman, J. M., Smith, C. J., Schmeidler, J., Hollander, E., Lawlor, B. A., Fitzgerald, M., Buxbaum, J. D., Delaney, K., & Galvin, P. (2002). Symptom domains in autism and related conditions: Evidence for familiality. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 114, 64–73.
South, M., Ozonoff, S., & McMahon, W. M. (2005). Repetitive behavior profiles in Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 145–158.
Stone, W. L., Lee, E. B., Ashford, L., Brissie, J., Hepburn, S. L., Coonrod, E. E., & Weiss, B. H. (1999). Can autism be diagnosed accurately in children under 3 years? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 219–226.
Stutsman, R. (1931). Guide for administering the Merrill-Palmer Scale of Mental Tests. In L. M. Terman (Eds.), Mental measurement of preschool children (pp. 139–262). New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Szatmari, P., Georgiades, S., Bryson, S., Zwaigenbaum, L., Roberts, W., Mahoney, W., Goldberg, J., & Tuff, L. (2006). Investigating the structure of the restricted, repetitive behaviours and interests domain of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 582–590.
Walker, D. R., Thompson, A., Zwaigenbaum, L., Goldberg, J., Bryson, S. E., Mahoney, W. J., Strawbridge, C. P., & Szatmari, P. (2004). Specifying PDD-NOS: A comparison of PDD-NOS, Asperger syndrome, and autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 172–180.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (U19-HD 35482) to Catherine Lord and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (T32AA007477 predoctoral fellowship) to Somer Bishop. We thank the faculty and staff at the University of Chicago, University of North Carolina, and University of Michigan who assisted in collecting and preparing the data reported in this article, as well as the children and families who participated in the various research projects.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Richler, J., Bishop, S.L., Kleinke, J.R. et al. Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 37, 73–85 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0332-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0332-6