Table 3.

Associations between neurological/immunological problems and ASD diagnosis and autistic traits in the whole sample

(a) The analyses in the whole sample with outcome as ASD diagnosis and autistic traits (n = 344)
		Outcome
		ASD diagnosis			Autistic traits
		β	S.e.	P (unadjusted)	β	S.e.	P (unadjusted)
Exposure variable:	Neurological Problems	0.40	0.21	0.061	5.60	2.41	0.020*
Covariate 1:	Full-scale IQ	− 0.03	0.01	0.045	− 0.43	0.12	<0.001*
Covariate 2:	ADHD	0.85	0.35	0.015*	28.22	4.07	<0.001*
Covariate 3:	Gender	0.21	0.33	0.525	0.36	3.34	0.915
Covariate 4:	Age	− 0.03	0.04	0.431	− 0.84	0.29	0.004*
Covariate 5:	Other NDDs	0.79	0.40	0.048	20.56	5.59	<0.001*
Exposure variable:	Immunological Problems	0.43	0.17	0.014*	3.76	0.90	0.048
Covariate 1:	Full-scale IQ	− 0.31	0.01	0.012*	− 0.48	0.11	<0.001*
Covariate 2:	ADHD	0.92	0.35	0.008*	29.25	4.17	<0.001*
Covariate 3:	Gender	0.21	0.34	0.525	0.42	3.37	0.900
Covariate 4:	Age	− 0.02	0.03	0.491	− 0.79	0.28	0.005*
Covariate 5:	Other NDDs	0.85	0.40	0.033	21.08	5.54	<0.001*

(b) Associations between neurological problems and autistic traits in subjects with and without ASD diagnosis
		Outcome: autistic traits
		ASD (n = 81)			Non-ASD subjects (n = 263)
		β	S.e.	P	β	S.e.	P
Exposure variable:	Neurological problems	5.17	2.51	0.039**	1.38	2.18	0.526
Covariate 1:	Full-scale IQ	− 0.36	0.16	0.020**	− 0.25	0.10	0.012**
Covariate 2:	ADHD	9.25	5.58	0.097	27.07	4.24	<0.001**
Covariate 3:	Gender	− 0.59	5.93	0.921	− 0.92	2.92	0.754
Covariate 4:	Age	− 0.46	0.44	0.299	− 0.81	0.21	<0.001**
Covariate 5:	Other NDDs	21.83	6.43	<0.001**	10.31	4.36	0.018**

With Bonferroni correction, the significance level of p value in this table is set at 0.025

ASD autism spectrum disorder, ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, NDD neurodevelopmental disorder

*p < 0.025; **p < 0.05