Never having been married and smaller CGG repeat length were associated with increased likelihood of MDD while increased children with FXS in the family and greater child problem behaviors were associated with increased likelihood of an anxiety disorder in the FMR 1 premutation group.
The findings of this study suggest that differentiation according to the FMR-1 status may be more significant at the neurocognitive level than at the behavioral level and support the hypothesis that behavioral problems are more influenced by external factors than by the FMR-1 carrier state.
These findings suggest that the FMR-1 mutation causing the fragile X syndrome leads to observable changes in neuroanatomy that may be relevant to the neurodevelopmental disability and behavioural problems observed in affected individuals.