Investigation of the Relationship between Parental Mental Disorders and Autism among the Children of West Azerbaijan -Iran

Background- Autism disorders have increased over the last years. Autism is a neurological growth disorder associated with social communication disorders, growth retardation, and repetitive behaviors, along with serious consequences for children and families. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relationship between parental mental disorders and autism among the children of West Azerbaijan Province. Methods- This research was a case-control study in which the case group subjects were selected among the parents with autistic children and control group subjects were selected among the relative parents with healthy children and non-relative parents with healthy children. Both case and control groups were matched in terms of gender, living place, and age of children. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS-16 (Chicago, IL, USA) software. Results- The current research results revealed that the frequency of mental diseases, including obsessive-compulsive, inter personality sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobia, paranoid ideation, and psychotic disorder are different in fathers and mothers of the case and control groups. As Pvalue was lower than 0.05 in all scales, there was a significant relationship between the mental diseases of parents and the history of mental disorders in relatives and autism. Conclusion- The prevalence of mental disorders in relatives and having a medical history can be a warning sign of autism in children.