Children of parents who are in technical occupations are more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a more serious form of autism, a study suggested.
"Parent's occupation could be indicative of autistic-like behaviour and preferences and serve as another factor in a doctor's diagnosis of a child with suspected autism," said Aisha S. Dickerson, a researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center in the US.
For the study, parents were divided into those who had more non-people-oriented jobs (technical) or more people-oriented jobs (non-technical).
Fathers who worked in engineering were two times as likely to have a child with ASD, the study said.
Those who worked in finance were four times more likely and those who worked in health care occupations, six times, to have a child with the autism spectrum.
There was no association to a mother's occupation.
However, children who had both parents in technical fields were at a higher risk of having a more serious form of autism, the researchers noted.