Summary
A prospective parent with Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) asks whether their child could inherit OCD or face an increased chance of autism. They have encountered claims about a connection between autism and parental anxiety online.
The historical response discourages becoming absorbed in speculative internet claims and offers reassurance about support available to autistic children.
It does not provide a numerical risk estimate or establish the proposed connection from the reader's information.
Its discussion includes unsupported causal speculation and should be understood as an archived personal response rather than a current evidence-based assessment of autism or inherited risk.
Question
Reader · Identity withheldI have read that children with Autism may have a parent with an anxiety related disorder, such as OCD.
What are the odds of passing OCD on to my child–or in a worse case, elevating my child’s chance of developing autism?
Answer
Allan Schwartz, Ph.D.There is very little known about what causes autism except that it is on the rise and scientists are puzzled about why. Speculation has run from the possibility of preservatives used in immunization shots to exposure to electrical currents and a myriad other environment factors including the levels of pollution in the air, ground and water supply.
While not knowing the cause of this disorder and while it is very frustrating and anxiety arousing there is no useful purpose to be gained about vague speculations found on the Internet.
Frankly, I have read nothing about a connection between anxiety disorders of any kind, including OCD and autism.
What I can tell you that if a child does have one of the autism spectrum disorders wonderful things are being done to enable them to grow and live happy and normal lives.
Please do not worry yourself about highly speculative and doubtful things.
I sincerely doubt that there is any connection between anxiety disorders in mothers and infants developing autism.
If anxiety in mothers was a cause of autism we would have a world wide pandemic of autism and no such pandemic exists.
Best of Luck
