Network Analysis of Autistic Traits in Children with Autism and Their Parents: Validation through Follow-up Data and Eye-Tracking Technology

Network Analysis of Autistic Traits in Children with Autism and Their Parents: Validation through Follow-up Data and Eye-Tracking Technology | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Network Analysis of Autistic Traits in Children with Autism and Their Parents: Validation through Follow-up Data and Eye-Tracking Technology Jianjun Ou, Yanting Hou, Lijing Lin, Ruochen Dang, Ling Wang, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7704069/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Owing to the influence of genetic and environmental factors, complex associations exist between autistic traits in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents. However, little is known about the structure and temporal stability of these familial associations, particularly from a network perspective. This study applied network analysis to examine the interrelationships and longitudinal stability of autistic traits, as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2), in 1,294 ASD family trios at baseline and 193 mother–child pairs at a follow-up. Objective eye-tracking technology was employed to support the findings. Network analysis revealed that social communication was the most central domain across all family members. Parents and children were primarily associated through the dimension of restricted interests and repetitive behaviors (RRBs), a pattern that was also supported by eye-tracking data. Comparisons between the baseline and follow-up networks showed no significant changes in the global strength, structure, or centrality, suggesting overall network stability over time. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the familial transmission of autistic traits and may offer insights for future etiological and intervention research in ASD. Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Autism spectrum disorders Biological sciences/Genetics/Clinical genetics Full Text Additional Declarations The authors have declared there is NO conflict of interest to disclose Supplementary Files SupplementaryTablesandfigures.docx Supplementary Tables and figures Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Review # 3 received at journal 03 May, 2026 Review # 2 received at journal 29 Apr, 2026 Reviewer # 3 agreed at journal 27 Apr, 2026 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 27 Apr, 2026 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 20 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 20 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 26 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 26 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 25 Sep, 2025 Unknown event 25 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7704069","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":532333361,"identity":"c57bcce9-e707-4ce4-a4b0-de0d387dc4ee","order_by":0,"name":"Jianjun 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