News

Research on sex-related differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Dates

on the June 19, 2018

Collaborative research project led by Prof. Charman (Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, United-Kingdom) to which Prof. Frédérique Bonnet-Brilhault and Dr. Marie Gomot participated.

Evaluating Sex and Age Differences in ADI-R and ADOS Scores in a Large European Multi-site Sample of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Research on sex-related differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been impeded by small samples. We pooled 28 datasets from 18 sites across nine European countries to examine sex differences in the ASD phenotype on the ADI-R (376 females, 1763 males) and ADOS (233 females, 1187 males). On the ADI-R, early childhood restricted and repetitive behaviours were lower in females than males, alongside comparable levels of social interaction and communication difficulties in females and males. Current ADI-R and ADOS scores showed no sex differences for ASD severity. There were lower socio-communicative symptoms in older compared to younger individuals. This large European ASD sample adds to the literature on sex and age variations of ASD symptomatology.

Keywords

Age, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Phenotype, Sex, Symptom severity.

Contact :
Prof. Frédérique Bonnet-Brilhault :