Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of Diagnostic Severity upon Sex Differences in Behavioural Profiles of Young Males and Females with Autism Spectrum Disorder

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To determine if diagnostic severity of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affected sex differences in the detailed ASD-related behavioural profiles of young males and female, two samples of males and females with a diagnosis of ASD, aged between 6 and 17 years, were compared across the 65 items of the Social Responsiveness Scale (2nd ed.). Results are reported for a sample of males and females matched on age and IQ (n = 51 pairs) and a smaller sample matched on age, IQ and ADOS-2 severity (n = 32 pairs). ASD-related behaviours from the SRS-2 that were significantly and meaningfully different across sexes were identified for both samples. ADOS-2 diagnostic severity was associated with different sets of sex-based differences in SRS-2 item scores.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allely, C. (2018). Understanding and recognising the female phenotype of autism spectrum disorder and the “camouflage” hypothesis: A systematic PRISMA review. Advances in Autism.. https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-09-2018-0036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • APA. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S., Auyeung, B., Norgaard-Pedersen, B., Hougaard, D., Abdullah, M., Melgaard, L., et al. (2014). Elevated fetal steroidogenic activity in autism. Molecular Psychiatry, 20, 369–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bitsika, V., Sharpley, C., & Mills, R. (2018). Sex differences in sensory features between boys and girls with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 51, 49–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H., Cohen, P., & Chen, S. (2007). Biased odds ratios from dichotomization of age. Statistics in Medicine, 26, 3487–3497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1983). The cost of dichotomization. Applied Psychological Measurement, 7, 249–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power for the behavioural sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaun.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantino, J., & Gruber, C. (2012). Social Responsiveness Scale second edition (SRS-2). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean, M., Harwood, R., & Kasari, C. (2017). The art of camouflage: Gender differences in the social behaviors of girls and boys with autism spectrum disorder. Autism, 21(6), 678–689. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361316671845.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duvekot, J., van der Ende, J., Verhulst, F., & Greaves-Lord, K. (2014). The screening accuracy of the parent and teacher-reported Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS): Comparison with the 3Di and ADOS. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45, 1658–1672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2323-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferri, S., Abel, T., & Brodkin, E. (2018). Sex differences in autism spectrum disorder: A review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 20, 9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filipek, P., Accardo, P., Baranek, G., Cook, E., Dawson, G., Gordon, B., et al. (1999). The screening and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 29, 439–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frazier, T. W., Georgiades, S., Bishop, S. L., & Hardan, A. Y. (2014). Behavioral and cognitive characteristics of females and males with autism in the Simons simplex collection. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(3), 329–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.12.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, A., Bishop, S., Constantino, J., Daniels, A., Koenig, K., Palmer, K., et al. (2015). Sex and gender differenecs in autism spectrum disorder: Summarizing the evidence gaps and identifying emerging areas of priority. Molecular Autism, 6, 36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanamsagar, R., Alter, M., Block, C., Sullivan, H., Bolton, J., & Bilbo, S. (2017). Generation of a microglial developmental index in mice and in humans reveals a sex difference in maturation and immune reactivity. Glia, 65(9), 1504–1520. https://doi.org/10.1002/glia.23176.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hull, L., Petrides, K., Allison, C., Smith, P., Baron-Cohen, S., Lai, M., et al. (2017). “Putting on my best normal”: Social camouflaging in adults with autism spectrum conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47, 2519–2534. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3166-5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kreiser, N., & White, S. (2014). ASD in females: Are we overstating the gender difference in diagnosis? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 17(1), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-013-0148-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loomes, R., Hull, L., & Mandy, W. (2017). What is the male-to-female ratio in autism spectrum disorder? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(6), 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.03.013.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., DiLavore, P., Risi, S., Gotham, K., & Bishop, S. (2012). Autism diagnostic observation schedule (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minshew, N., Turner, C., & Goldstein, G. (2005). The application of short forms of the Wechsler intelligence scales in adults and children with high functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 45–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (2001). Educating children with autism. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Postorino, V., Fatta, L., De Peppo, L., Giovagnoli, G., Armando, M., Vicari, S., et al. (2015). Longitudinal comparison between male and female preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(7), 2046–2055. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2366-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rynkiewicz, A., Schuller, B., Marchi, E., Piana, S., Camurri, A., Lassalle, A., et al. (2016). An investigation of the ‘female camouflage effect’ in autism using a computerized ADOS-2 and a test of sex/gender differences. Molecular Autism, 7, 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shuffrey, L., Guter, S., Delaney, S., Jacob, S., Anderson, G., Sutcliffe, J., et al. (2017). Is there sexual dimorphism of hyperserotonemia in autism spectrum disorder? Autism Research, 10(8), 1417–1423. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1791.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Skuse, D., Warrington, R., Bishop, D., Chowdhury, U., Lau, J., & Mandy, W. (2004). The developmental, dimensional and diagnostic interview (3di): A novel computerized assessment for autism spectrum disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 548–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnik, B., & Fidell, L. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Wijngaarden-Cremers, P., van Eeten, E., Broen, W., van Deurzen, P., Oosterling, I., & Van der Gaag, R. (2014). Gender and age differences in the core triad of impairments in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 44, 627–635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wing, L. (1981). Sex ratios in early childhood autism and related conditions. Psychiatry Research, 5(2), 129–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the valued time and efforts by the participants in this study.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brain-Behaviour Research Group, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2350, Australia

    Vicki Bitsika & Christopher F. Sharpley

Authors
  1. Vicki Bitsika
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christopher F. Sharpley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Both VB and CFS designed and performed the study. Data were analysed by CFS and the draft manuscript was written by both VB and CFS.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher F. Sharpley.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bitsika, V., Sharpley, C.F. Effects of Diagnostic Severity upon Sex Differences in Behavioural Profiles of Young Males and Females with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 4429–4440 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04159-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04159-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation