Autism Spectrum Disorder: Risk for

Motivation for the identification of risk factors of a disorder is twofold: First, risk factors may help determine etiologies of disorders and, second, knowledge of risk factors can improve the [Page 393]screening process for disorders. As such, identification of risk factors (i.e., factors that are strongly related to a disorder and that are more likely to occur within the clinical population in question than in the general population) is an important area of inquiry in abnormal and clinical psychology. This entry covers risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD); identifying risk factors is particularly relevant for the field, given the rising prevalence rates of ASD (estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 to be approximately 1 in 68 children). There are ...