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No Sex Differences in Cognitive Ability in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

Inconsistent findings regarding sex differences in cognition have been found in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study evaluated sex differences in cognitive-developmental functioning in a large clinical sample of young children diagnosed with ASD. The sample included children 18–68 months of age who received the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) through Autism Treatment Network (ATN) sites from 2007 to 2013 (N = 1587, 16.7% female). In this large clinically referred sample of young children with ASD in the United States, no significant differences were found between the sexes for the MSEL Early Learning Composite (ELC) standard score, domain T Scores or age equivalents. These findings persisted when examining different age ranges, cognitive levels and domain profiles.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted as part of the Autism Treatment Network (ATN). The ATN is funded by Autism Speaks and a cooperative agreement (UA3 MC 11054) from the Health Resources and Services Administration to Massachusetts General Hospital. We acknowledge the members of the ATN for use of the data and the families who participated in the Registry. We acknowledge Naomi Knoble for her contributions. A version of this paper was presented as a poster in 2014 at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), Atlanta, Georgia.

Funding

This research was conducted as part of the Autism Treatment Network (ATN). The ATN is funded by Autism Speaks and a cooperative agreement (UA3 MC 11054) from the Health Resources and Services Administration to Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Author notes

  1. Julianne Myers

    Present address: Department of Clinical Psychology, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, CDRC, 707 SW Gaines Street, Portland, OR, 97239-3098, USA

    Susanne W. Duvall, Lark Huang-Storms, Alison Presmanes Hill & Eric Fombonne

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239-3098, USA

    Susanne W. Duvall & Eric Fombonne

  3. Center for Spoken Language Understanding, Oregon Health amd Science University, CSLU GH 40, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR, 97239-3098, USA

    Alison Presmanes Hill & Julianne Myers

Authors
  1. Susanne W. Duvall
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  2. Lark Huang-Storms
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  4. Julianne Myers
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Contributions

Authors SWD and LHS contributed to the literature review and writing of the manuscript. Authors SWD, LHS, EF and APH contributed to the study design and editing of the manuscript. Authors APH and JM contributed to the statistical analyses.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susanne W. Duvall.

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Conflict of interest

Susanne W. Duvall, Ph.D. declares that she has no conflict of interest. Lark Huang-Storms, Ph.D. declares that she has no conflict of interest. Alison Presmanes Hill Ph.D. declares that she has no conflict of interest. Julianne Myers, BA declares that she has no conflict of interest. Eric Fombonne, MD declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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

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

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Duvall, S.W., Huang-Storms, L., Presmanes Hill, A. et al. No Sex Differences in Cognitive Ability in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 1770–1785 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-03933-1

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