Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Jun;49(6):2597-2604. doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-03998-y.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is more prevalent in males than females. Previous research indicates females camouflage ASD symptoms more than males, potentially contributing to the difference in prevalence. This study investigated sex/gender differences in behavioral phenotypes in 17 males and 11 females with ASD, as well camouflaging in ASD, in an attempt to partially replicate findings from Lai et al. (Autism 21(6):690-702, 2017). Overall ASD symptoms were measured by the autism spectrum quotient (AQ). Mean AQ in females with ASD was higher than males with ASD, with the difference approaching statistical significance. Camouflaging was found to be more common in females with ASD, and not associated to social phobia. Furthermore, camouflaging correlated negatively with emotional expressivity in females, but not males, with ASD. These findings strengthen previous findings regarding camouflaging being more common in females and add to the literature on how camouflaging may be different in females versus males.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）在男性中比女性更为常见。先前的研究表明，女性比男性更善于掩饰 ASD 症状，这可能是导致患病率差异的原因之一。本研究旨在通过对 17 名男性和 11 名女性 ASD 患者的行为表型以及 ASD 中的掩饰行为进行研究，部分复制 Lai 等人的研究结果（Autism 21(6):690-702, 2017）。采用自闭症谱系商数（AQ）来衡量 ASD 的整体症状。患有 ASD 的女性的平均 AQ 高于患有 ASD 的男性，差异接近统计学意义。研究发现，患有 ASD 的女性更常见掩饰行为，且与社交恐惧症无关。此外，患有 ASD 的女性的掩饰行为与情绪表达呈负相关，而男性则没有。这些发现进一步证实了女性更常见掩饰行为的研究结果，并为女性和男性的掩饰行为存在差异的相关文献提供了补充。
