Girls show an upsurge in autistic traits in adolescence, new research has found.
Researchers at the University College of London (UCL) found girls show an increase in autistic social traits later than boys.
The UCL team found the traits for autism in girls become more pronounced between 10 and 16 years old.
Late onset or pre-existing difficulties?
But the researchers say it’s unclear whether the more prominent appearance in adolescence is “genuine late onset”.
It may instead be “earlier, subtle, pre-existing difficulties becoming more obvious”, they say.
UCL psychologist Dr William Mandy led the team as they mapped the progress of autism traits in the general population across childhood.
They used the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to trace autism traits.
The ALSPAC research was a general population study in the south west of England from birth. It involved 9,744 children.
The study assessed autism traits at ages seven, 10, 13 and 16. It used the Social Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC), which relies on information from parents.
At age seven, boys scored higher than girls. They were more likely to be in the “clinical range”.
No longer a difference between boys and girls at age 16
But the difference diminished over time as the symptoms in girls got stronger. By the age of 16 there was no longer a difference.
Dr Sarah Lister Brook is clinical director of the National Autistic Society (NAS).
She said social difficulties are often present much earlier on in a girl’s development, “but the presentation is more subtle, so they aren’t so easy to recognise”.
Adolescence ‘brings issues to the fore’
As social pressures and gender expectations increase, “the teenage experience brings long-standing issues to the fore,” she added.
Brook said further research is needed on the way behaviours characteristic of autism change over time.
The research is titled ‘The development of autistic social traits across childhood and adolescence in males and females’, published by The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
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Published: 2 July 2018
