Evaluating Sex and Age Differences in ADI-R and ADOS Scores in a Large European Multi-site Sample of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 48; no. 7; pp. 2490 - 2505
• Main Authors: Tillmann, J., Ashwood, K., Absoud, M., Bölte, S., Bonnet-Brilhault, F., Buitelaar, J. K., Calderoni, S., Calvo, R., Canal-Bedia, R., Canitano, R., De Bildt, A., Gomot, M., Hoekstra, P. J., Kaale, A., McConachie, H., Murphy, D. G., Narzisi, A., Oosterling, I., Pejovic-Milovancevic, M., Persico, A. M., Puig, O., Roeyers, H., Rommelse, N., Sacco, R., Scandurra, V., Stanfield, A. C., Zander, E., Charman, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Age; Age Differences; Age Factors; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis; Autism Spectrum Disorder - epidemiology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Care and treatment; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child, Preschool; Childhood; Children; Clinical Medicine; Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Development; Diagnosis; Diagnostic Tests; Evaluation; Female; Females; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Genetics; Health status indicators; Humans; Infant; Intelligence Tests; Interpersonal Relations; Klinisk medicin; Male; Males; Medical and Health Sciences; Medical research; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Motor Development; Neurosciences; Observation; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Phenotype; Phenotypes; Psychiatry; Psychology; Psykiatri; Public Health; Regression (Statistics); Repetitive behaviour; Scores; Severity; Severity (of Disability); Sex; Sex Characteristics; Sex differences; Social interaction; Statistical Analysis; Symptom severity; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Young Children; Europe; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Phenotype; Age; Symptom severity; Sex
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3510-4

Research on sex-related differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been impeded by small samples. We pooled 28 datasets from 18 sites across nine European countries to examine sex differences in the ASD phenotype on the ADI-R (376 females, 1763 males) and ADOS (233 females, 1187 males). On the ADI-R, early childhood restricted and repetitive behaviours were lower in females than males, alongside comparable levels of social interaction and communication difficulties in females and males. Current ADI-R and ADOS scores showed no sex differences for ASD severity. There were lower socio-communicative symptoms in older compared to younger individuals. This large European ASD sample adds to the literature on sex and age variations of ASD symptomatology.