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Abused women more likely to have kids with autism: Study

Written by: QMI Agency
Mar. 22, 2013

(Fotolia)

Women abused when they were young are more likely to have children with autism, a new study has found.

In the study of nearly 53,000 U.S. mothers, those who had reported physical or emotional abuse when they were kids were more likely to give birth to children with autism compared to women not subjected to childhood trauma.

"Notably, women exposed to the highest level of physical and emotional abuse, comprising one-quarter of the women in our study, were at 61.1% elevated risk for having a child with autism compared with women not exposed to abuse," the Harvard study says.

The study follows a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that says more U.S. children are being diagnosed with autism — one in 50 school-aged children — a 72% increase since 2007.

The Harvard School of Public Health study is published online in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

— With files from Reuters

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