The female side of ADHD and ASD

Kok, Francien M.

doi:10.33612/diss.179073089

Cited by 1 publication

(9 citation statements)

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“…Increases in diagnoses are reported to be greater for females than males [28]. Currently, sex and gender differences in autism are an important topic of debate, because our current understanding of autism may rely too heavily on the clinical presentation of autism in males [4,15,29]. Considerable gender differences have been observed in autism characteristics [4,15].…”

Section: Gender Differences In Autismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, sex and gender differences in autism are an important topic of debate, because our current understanding of autism may rely too heavily on the clinical presentation of autism in males [4,15,29]. Considerable gender differences have been observed in autism characteristics [4,15]. The core symptom, 'deficits in social communication and social interaction', often manifests more subtly in autistic women compared to autistic men [30], particularly when focusing on DSM core characteristics [31].…”

Section: Gender Differences In Autismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Later, subsequent big data studies have tested the AQ in populations as large as half a million people in the general population [57] and a short version of the AQ in 36,000 autistic people [58]. Contemporary female-specific autistic characteristics that have been more often observed in women in the past decade [4,15,59] were not included in the original AQ. For example, the AQ does not cover camouflaging behaviours, difficulties with maintaining friendships or more socially accepted interests, which are all experienced by autistic women.…”

Section: Identification Of Autism In Femalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The clinical diagnosis of autism in females is often delayed or misdiagnosed compared to autism in males [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Delayed diagnosis is associated with several negative outcomes, such as reduced societal participation [7], impaired quality of life [8,9], worse mental health [10] and a higher risk of being a victim of sexual abuse [11].…”

Section: Introduction 1relevance and Study Aimmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Autistic women may be less easily recognized compared to autistic men because they show different traits than those traditionally associated with autism. It is therefore important to document a wider range of autistic behaviours that are more descriptive of autistic females, beyond the existing (male-biased) instruments [4,15].…”

Section: Introduction 1relevance and Study Aimmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measuring the Autistic Women’s Experience (AWE)

Groen,

Ebert,

Dittner

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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We developed a Dutch questionnaire called the Autistic Women’s Experience (AWE) and compared its psychometric properties to the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Whilst attenuated gender differences on the AQ have been widely replicated, this instrument may not fully capture the unique experience of autistic women. The AWE was co-developed with autistic women to include items that reflect autistic women’s experience. We investigated the AWE (49 items) and compared it with the AQ (50 items) in Dutch autistic individuals (N = 153, n = 85 women) and in the general population (N = 489, n = 246 women) aged 16+. Both the AQ and AWE had excellent internal consistency and were highly and equally predictive of autism in both women and men. Whilst there was a gender difference on the AQ among non-autistic people (men > women), there was no gender difference among autistic people, confirming all earlier studies. No gender differences were detected on the AWE overall scale, yet subtle gender differences were observed on the subscales. We conclude that the AQ is valid for both genders, but the AWE provides an additional useful perspective on the characteristics of autistic women. The AWE needs further validation in independent samples using techniques that allow for testing gender biases, as well as a confirmatory factor analysis in a larger sample.

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