Michael Rutter

Bio: Michael Rutter is an academic researcher from King's College London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Autism & Conduct disorder. The author has an hindex of 188, co-authored 676 publications receiving 151592 citations. Previous affiliations of Michael Rutter include VCU Medical Center & Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

Fragile X in families multiplex for autism and related phenotypes: prevalence and criteria for cytogenetic diagnosis

Abstract: There is uncertainty regarding the necessary and sufficient criteria for cytogenetic diagnosis of the fragile X syndrome. Some have made the diagnosis when 1% or more of cells are anomalous, whereas others have used 3–4% as a threshold. The choice of threshold level has implications for the extent to which fragile X accounts for the genetic findings in autism. In this study, we tested the first degree relatives of families that were multiplex for autism and related phenotypes, and investigated the reliability and validity of different cytogenetic thresholds for fragile X diagnosis. Clinical diagnoses were made using standardized assessment procedures and operationalized criteria. Cytogenetic investigations, blind to clinical evaluations, were performed in two laboratories, utilizing a variety of induction procedures. Latent class analysis supported a three class solution to the cytogenetic data, corresponding to no, low (1–3%) and high (> 3%) levels of fragile X expression. High level expression was reliably identified and associated with other phenotypic features of the fragile X syndrome. It was found in 2 of the 24 multiplex families tested and consequently, could not account for the majority of familial aggregation of autism and related phenotypes. Low level expression was less reliably identified and, although occasionally found in apparently normal individuals, was associated with disorders of cognitive function. The aetiology of low level expression was unclear, but the overall pattern of findings suggested that it was different to high level expression. The findings highlight the need to interpret low positive counts cautiously.

The Isle of Wight Studies: The Scope and Scale of Reading Difficulties.

Abstract: Beginning in the 1960s, the Isle of Wight studies were among the first to investigate developmental reading problems in representative, population-based samples, using the tools of epidemiology. In...

The Importance of Cultural Identity in Adoption: A Study of Young People Adopted from Romania:

Abstract: This article by Celia Beckett, Amanda Hawkins, Michael Rutter, Jenny Castle, Emma Colvert, Christine Groothues, Jana Kreppner, Suzanne Stevens and Edmund Sonuga-Barke examines attitudes regarding cultural and national identity in a group of 165 young people adopted from Romania. The attitudes of their adoptive parents are also explored. The adoptive parents were interviewed over three or four time periods, when their children were 4/6, 11 and 15 years, and the adopted young people at the age of 11 and 15. The majority of the adopted young people had an interest in Romania and expressed a wish to visit their country of origin. However, there was no association between this interest in Romanian identity and levels of self-esteem. The majority of the adoptees saw themselves as English or Anglo-Romanian. A small minority saw themselves as Romanian; these adoptees had both lower self-esteem and a higher level of deprivation-specific problems. The degree of sustained interest shown by adoptive parents in the im...

Genetics of autism spectrum disorders

Abstract: Recent research has shown that the traditional concept that each diagnosis is separate from all others is mistaken. The evidence shows the high level of overlap. Molecular genetic studies have shown that many genetic influences are pleiotropic and probabilistic, as well as having limited diagnostic specificity. Both common polymorphic variations and rare variants are involved. Single gene disorders are discussed with a focus on their possible reversibility. The goal of identifying causal biological pathways is sound, but the search has had very limited success so far. Although it is clear that genetic influences are very important in the liability to autism, the direct clinical implications are quite limited.

The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

Abstract: A hypothesized need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships is evaluated in light of the empirical literature. The need is for frequent, nonaversive interactions within an ongoing relational bond. Consistent with the belongingness hypothesis, people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds. Belongingness appears to have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. Other evidence, such as that concerning satiation, substitution, and behavioral consequences, is likewise consistent with the hypothesized motivation. Several seeming counterexamples turned out not to disconfirm the hypothesis. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A Research Note

Abstract: A novel behavioural screening questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), was administered along with Rutter questionnaires to parents and teachers of 403 children drawn from dental and psychiatric clinics. Scores derived from the SDQ and Rutter questionnaires were highly correlated; parent-teacher correlations for the two sets of measures were comparable or favoured the SDQ. The two sets of measures did not differ in their ability to discriminate between psychiatric and dental clinic attenders. These preliminary findings suggest that the SDQ functions as well as the Rutter questionnaires while offering the following additional advantages: a focus on strengths as well as difficulties; better coverage of inattention, peer relationships, and prosocial behaviour; a shorter format; and a single form suitable for both parents and teachers, perhaps thereby increasing parent-teacher correlations.

Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication

Abstract: Background Little is known about the general population prevalence or severity of DSM-IV mental disorders. Objective To estimate 12-month prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of DSM-IV anxiety, mood, impulse control, and substance disorders in the recently completed US National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Design and Setting Nationally representative face-to-face household survey conducted between February 2001 and April 2003 using a fully structured diagnostic interview, the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Participants Nine thousand two hundred eighty-two English-speaking respondents 18 years and older. Main Outcome Measures Twelve-month DSM-IV disorders. Results Twelve-month prevalence estimates were anxiety, 18.1%; mood, 9.5%; impulse control, 8.9%; substance, 3.8%; and any disorder, 26.2%. Of 12-month cases, 22.3% were classified as serious; 37.3%, moderate; and 40.4%, mild. Fifty-five percent carried only a single diagnosis; 22%, 2 diagnoses; and 23%, 3 or more diagnoses. Latent class analysis detected 7 multivariate disorder classes, including 3 highly comorbid classes representing 7% of the population. Conclusion Although mental disorders are widespread, serious cases are concentrated among a relatively small proportion of cases with high comorbidity.

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy.

Abstract: This chapter suggests that delinquency conceals two distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: A small group engages in antisocial behavior of one sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence. According to the theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior, children's neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development, culminating m a pathological personality. According to the theory of adolescence-limited antisocial behavior, a contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive. There are marked individual differences in the stability of antisocial behavior. The chapter reviews the mysterious relationship between age and antisocial behavior. Some youths who refrain from antisocial behavior may, for some reason, not sense the maturity gap and therefore lack the hypothesized motivation for experimenting with crime.