Findings consistent across groups stratified by symptom severity
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, June 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Autistic traits in toddlers do not differ based on clinical sex when they are first diagnosed with autism, according to a study published online May 26 in Nature Human Behaviour.
Sanaz Nazari, Ph.D., from the Autism Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues used data from 2,618 toddlers (mean age, about 27 months) participating in the Get SET Early program to assess sex differences with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the time of first symptom onset.
The researchers found no significant sex differences in toddlers with ASD across 17 of 18 measures, including symptom severity based on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, receptive and expressive language based on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, and social attention based on the GeoPref eye-tracking test. Results persisted across severity subgroups. Girls with typical development outperformed boys on several measures.
“Although later environmental influences could arguably impact later-age symptom presentation, particularly in females, the current body of evidence and our present study do not support previous speculations about sex differences in ASD at the time of first diagnosis,” the authors write. “Therefore, it is unlikely that girls with ASD differ clinically from boys with ASD across early development.”
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