*Poster session II Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference. June 1-4, 2005. Austin, Texas
Angie S. MacKewn, Sherry D. Jones, Gary E. Brown & Esther J. Plank
The purpose of the current study was to develop a predictive model of more frequently occurring pre and postnatal etiological factors in children diagnosed with autism. A survey of biological mothers of children diagnosed with autism or PDD and of children without developmental delays were matched on gender (n=134 males and 56 females) and age (M=6.54 years, SD=2.78 in autistic); (M=6.23 years, SD= 2.90 in controls). The developmental survey asked several questions including, pregnancy food cravings and aversions, childhood ear infection, presence of tubes, vomiting and nausea patterns, and speech development. A logistic regression equation found that not vomiting in the first trimester, the mother having an infection while pregnant, and the child having over 7 ear infections, were significant predictors of whether a child was diagnosed with autism or not. Of mothers of autistic children, 40% vomited in the first trimester compared to 53% of the control mothers. The “embryo protection hypothesis” suggests that morning sickness has an evolutionary basis and protects the embryo from teratogens by causing pregnant women to purge (Profet, 1992).
