The Association Between Autistic Traits and Disordered Eating is Moderated by Sex/Gender and Independent of Anxiety and Depression.
Alana Barnett, Katie Edwards, Rebecca Harper and 4 others
PMID 32852639WHAT IT FOUND
Higher autistic traits correlate with more disordered eating symptoms, but this link is significantly stronger in females than males.
The association persists even after accounting for anxiety and depression, suggesting autistic traits are an independent factor in eating disorder risk.
Key findings
01The positive correlation between autistic traits and disordered eating symptoms was significantly stronger in females than in males.
02Autistic traits remained a significant predictor of disordered eating scores even after controlling for concurrent anxiety and depression symptoms.
03Self-reported autism and eating disorder diagnoses co-occurred more often than chance, but this association was not statistically significant in this sample.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study relied entirely on self-report measures without clinical verification of diagnoses. The sample was heavily skewed towards university students and psychology students, which may not represent the general population. Participants under 18 were excluded, missing the demographic with the highest incidence of eating disorders. The EAT-26 is a female-centric measure; it may not capture male-typical disordered eating presentations such as muscularity-oriented behaviours. The internal consistency for the depression subscale was low, which may have affected the analysis of its role.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Newcastle University. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that autistic traits cause eating disorders in males based on this study. The correlation was only significant in females; the male data showed a weak trend that did not reach statistical significance, possibly because the measurement tools were not sensitive to male-specific eating pathology.