Gender Variance and the Autism Spectrum: An Examination of Children Ages 6–12 Years

Nabbijohn, A. Natisha; Miesen, Anna I. R. van der; Santarossa, Alanna; Peragine, Diana E.; Vries, Annelou L.C. de; Popma, Arne; Lai, Meng‐Chuan; VanderLaan, Doug P.

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3843-z

Cited by 45 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…It is also, the first study to demonstrate a link between autism traits and recalled crossgender identity and behaviour. This highlights a developmental continuity of the association, which is present in both children (Nabbijohn et al 2018) and adults (current study and George and Stokes 2018). We also found that RMIE task performance was associated significantly with both the RCGI and the GIDYQ score (poorer mentalising = more recalled childhood crossgender identity/behaviour and more current gender dysphoric traits).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Mentalising Moderates the Link between Autism Traits and Current Gender Dysphoric Features in Primarily Non-autistic, Cisgender Individuals

Kallitsounaki

Williams

2020

J Autism Dev Disord

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The co-occurrence between autism and gender dysphoria has received much attention recently. We found that, among 101 adults from the general population number of autism traits, as measured using the autism-spectrum quotient was associated significantly with recalled and current gender dysphoric traits. Furthermore, performance on an objective measure of mentalising, such as the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test was associated with current gender dysphoric traits, but most importantly it moderated the relation between number of autism traits and number of current gender dysphoric traits, such that the association was significant only when mentalising ability was relatively low. Results suggest mentalising may represent a contributing factor to the relation between autism and gender dysphoric traits in the general population.Keywords Autism · Gender dysphoria · Gender identity · Mentalising · ToM Autism spectrum disorder (henceforth autism) is a neu-* Aimilia Kallitsounaki

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Mentalising Moderates the Link between Autism Traits and Current Gender Dysphoric Features in Primarily Non-autistic, Cisgender Individuals

Kallitsounaki

Williams

2020

J Autism Dev Disord

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“…In a recent Dutch study, around 15% of autistic adults reported a gender identity different from their sex assigned at birth (Walsh et al, 2018). The associations of autism and gender diversity characteristics have also been found in a large general population sample of school-age children in Canada (Nabbijohn et al, 2019). Community expressions of gender diversity in autism are common.…”

Section: Sex and Gender As Separate Multi-component Dimensionsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Both sex- and gender-related factors should be considered in autism research and clinical practice

Strang

Miesen

Caplan³

et al. 2020

Autism

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“…A few studies, mostly clinic-based, typically with small sample sizes, and in individuals with gender dysphoria (GD, defined as persistent distress arising from a mismatch between sex assigned at birth and gender identity), have investigated the link between autism/traits related to autism and gender diversity 12 , 13 . These studies have identified increased rates of gender diversity in autistic children and adolescents 14 – 18 , and adults 19 , 20 , compared to the general population. Most of these studies in children and adolescents have used a single item on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a caregiver-report measure for behavioral problems, to quantify gender variance, and these have identified that between 4% and 5.4% of autistic children may potentially be transgender or gender-diverse, compared to 0.7% of non-autistic children 14 – 16 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated rates of autism, other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diagnoses, and autistic traits in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

et al. 2020

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It is unclear whether transgender and gender-diverse individuals have elevated rates of autism diagnosis or traits related to autism compared to cisgender individuals in large nonclinic-based cohorts. To investigate this, we use five independently recruited cross-sectional datasets consisting of 641,860 individuals who completed information on gender, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diagnoses including autism, and measures of traits related to autism (self-report measures of autistic traits, empathy, systemizing, and sensory sensitivity). Compared to cisgender individuals, transgender and gender-diverse individuals have, on average, higher rates of autism, other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diagnoses. For both autistic and non-autistic individuals, transgender and gender-diverse individuals score, on average, higher on self-report measures of autistic traits, systemizing, and sensory sensitivity, and, on average, lower on self-report measures of empathy. The results may have clinical implications for improving access to mental health care and tailoring adequate support for transgender and gender-diverse individuals.

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Gender Variance and the Autism Spectrum: An Examination of Children Ages 6–12 Years

Cited by 45 publications

References 73 publications

Mentalising Moderates the Link between Autism Traits and Current Gender Dysphoric Features in Primarily Non-autistic, Cisgender Individuals

Mentalising Moderates the Link between Autism Traits and Current Gender Dysphoric Features in Primarily Non-autistic, Cisgender Individuals

Both sex- and gender-related factors should be considered in autism research and clinical practice

Elevated rates of autism, other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diagnoses, and autistic traits in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

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