Exploring sex differences in autistic traits: A factor analytic study of adults with autism
Exploring sex differences in autistic traits: A factor analytic study of adults with autism
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DOI：
10.1177/1362361316667283
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发表时间：
2017-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
Begeer, Sander
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Grove, Rachel;Hoekstra, Rosa A.;Begeer, Sander
研究强调了不同性别自闭症谱系疾病在表型和临床表现上的潜在差异。此外，用于评估自闭症谱系状况的措施可能偏向于男性自闭症表型。重要的是要确定这些仪器是否一致地测量自闭症男性和女性的自闭症表型。本研究在大样本的自闭症成人中对自闭症谱商简表的因素结构进行了评估。它还系统地探索了项目水平上的具体性别差异，以确定该量表是否等同地评估男性和女性的自闭症表型。对265名男性和285名女性进行了因素分析。由社会行为、数量和模式因素组成的双因素结构在不同群体中是一致的，这表明自闭症男性和女性的潜伏性自闭症表型相似。在自闭症谱商简表的两个社会行为项目阈值上，观察到了细微的差异，女性在这些项目上的得分与自闭症患者的预期得分更接近。然而，这些差异并不是很大。这项研究表明，自闭症谱商短表在男性和女性中检测自闭症特征是相同的，并不偏向于男性自闭症表型。
Research has highlighted potential differences in the phenotypic and clinical presentation of autism spectrum conditions across sex. Furthermore, the measures utilised to evaluate autism spectrum conditions may be biased towards the male autism phenotype. It is important to determine whether these instruments measure the autism phenotype consistently in autistic men and women. This study evaluated the factor structure of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form in a large sample of autistic adults. It also systematically explored specific sex differences at the item level, to determine whether the scale assesses the autism phenotype equivalently across males and females. Factor analyses were conducted among 265 males and 285 females. A two-factor structure consisting of a social behaviour and numbers and patterns factor was consistent across groups, indicating that the latent autism phenotype is similar among both autistic men and women. Subtle differences were observed on two social behaviour item thresholds of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form, with women reporting scores more in line with the scores expected in autism on these items than men. However, these differences were not substantial. This study showed that the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form detects autistic traits equivalently in males and females and is not biased towards the male autism phenotype.