Co-occurring Psychopathology in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Differences by Sex in the ECHO Cohorts.
Heather E Volk, Diogo Fortes, Rashelle Musci and 30 others
PMID 39762643WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic girls and women showed more anxiety and depression than autistic boys, especially in adolescence.
Autistic boys showed more ADHD symptoms. Parents reported fewer emotional issues in autistic children with mild symptoms, possibly because those signs were missed or masked.
Key findings
01Among children with autism, females had significantly higher scores for depressive and anxiety problems than males.
02Adolescent females with autism showed more anxiety and depression but fewer ADHD-related problems compared to adolescent males with autism.
03Children with autism had elevated scores for total problems, depression, anxiety, and ADHD compared to non-autistic children.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether autism traits caused emotional problems or vice versa. All data came from parent reports, which may miss internal feelings the child does not show outwardly. Autism diagnoses were based on parent report, not confirmed by clinical evaluation. The study only looked at sex assigned at birth and could not examine gender identity or non-binary experiences.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that lower reported emotional problems in autistic boys mean they are less distressed. Parents may under-report internalizing symptoms in boys, and the study relied entirely on caregiver observation, not child self-report.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →