Sex Differences in the Broad Autism Phenotype: Insights from the Australian Biobank.
Blaise Di Mento, James Rufus John, Antonio Mendoza Diaz and 4 others
PMID 39023802WHAT IT FOUND
Fathers showed more aloofness and rigidity, but mothers had more social and pragmatic difficulties when sex-specific norms were applied.
Female siblings showed higher social cognition difficulties than males. Parental traits did not predict autism severity in diagnosed children, but maternal traits predicted sibling traits.
Key findings
01Fathers reported significantly higher levels of aloofness, pragmatic language deficits, and rigidity on self-report measures compared to mothers.
02When using sex-specific norms, mothers demonstrated significantly higher difficulties in language structure, pragmatic skills, and social engagement compared to fathers.
03Female siblings showed significantly higher social cognition difficulties than male siblings on parent-reported measures, while other domains showed no sex differences.
04There was no association between parental BAP traits and autism severity in the diagnosed proband children.
05Maternal aloofness, pragmatic language, and rigidity were significantly associated with higher BAP trait scores in unaffected siblings.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study found no association between parental traits and autism severity in diagnosed children, which the authors attribute to the insensitivity of the ADOS-2 for capturing subtle phenotypic variation. Reporter bias is possible, as parents may over-report symptoms in their children, particularly mothers with BAP traits. Different measures were used for parents and siblings, preventing direct comparison of specific trait expressions across groups. The study did not identify who completed the SRS for siblings, making it difficult to assess the impact of reporter bias on sibling findings.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the University of New South Wales. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that fathers have more significant social communication difficulties than mothers. While fathers reported more aloofness, mothers showed higher pragmatic and social engagement difficulties when sex-specific norms were applied. Also, do not infer that parental traits cause autism severity; no association was found in diagnosed children.
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 →