Projects per year
Abstract
Background: Girls/women with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are suggested to exhibit different symptom profiles than boys/men with ASD. Accumulating evidence suggests that intellectual disability (ID) may affect sex/gender differences in ASD. However, a systematic review and meta-analysis on this topic is missing. Methods: Two databases (MEDLINE and PsycINFO) were used to search for studies reporting sex/gender differences (girls/women versus boys/men) in social communication and interaction, restrictive and repetitive behaviour and interests (RRBIs), sensory processing, and linguistic and motor abilities in ASD. The final sample consisted of 79 studies. The meta-analysis was performed with Review Manager using a random-effects model. Participants with ASD without and with ID were analysed as separate subgroups, and the effects in these two subgroups were also compared with each other. Results: Girls/women with ASD without ID displayed fewer RRBIs, more sensory symptoms and less problems in linguistic abilities than their boys/men counterparts. In contrast, girls/women with ASD with ID displayed more social difficulties and RRBIs, poorer linguistic abilities and more motor problems than boys/men with ASD with ID. Comparisons of groups of participants with ASD without ID versus participants with ASD with ID confirmed differences in sex/gender effects on social difficulties, sensory processing, linguistic abilities and motor abilities. Conclusions: Our results clearly suggest that the female phenotype of ASD is moderated by ID. Among individuals with ASD with ID, girls/women seem to be more severely affected than boys/men, whereas among individuals with ASD without ID, girls/women with ASD may have less symptoms than boys/men. Such phenotypic differences could be a potential cause of underrecognition of girls/women with ASD, and it is also possible that observed phenotypic differences may reflect underdiagnosing of girls/women with ASD.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-34 |
Number of pages | 34 |
Journal | Journal of Intellectual Disability Research |
Volume | 67 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 29 Nov 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2023 |
MoE publication type | A2 Review article, Literature review, Systematic review |
Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder
- gender differences
- intellectual disability
- sex differences
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Dive into the research topics of 'Intellectual disabilities moderate sex/gender differences in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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research: Bringing real-life to attention (research): Towards integrative and transferrable neurocognitive model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Salmitaival, J. (Principal investigator), Merzon, L. (Project Member) & Tauriainen, S. (Project Member)
01/09/2019 → 31/08/2022
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding
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research: Bringing real-life to attention (research): Towards integrative and transferrable neurocognitive model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Salmitaival, J. (Principal investigator), Merzon, L. (Project Member), Piispanen, M. (Project Member) & Vishwanath, G. (Project Member)
01/09/2019 → 31/08/2024
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding