Skip to main content
Log in

Brief Report: Autistic Features in Children and Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria

  • Brief report
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper looks at the association between gender dysphoria (GD), scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and reported diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Parents of 166 young people presenting with GD (Mean age = 14.26, SD = 2.68) completed the SRS. Information concerning an ASD diagnosis was also extracted from the patient files. 45.8 % fell within the normal range on the SRS and of those 2.8 % had an ASD diagnosis. 27.1 % fell within the mild/moderate range and of those 15.6 % had an ASD diagnosis and 6.7 % an ASD query. 27.1 % fell within the severe range and of those 24.4 % had an ASD diagnosis and 26.7 % an ASD query. No difference was found in autistic features between the natal females and males.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder, 5th edn (DSM V) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auyeung, B., Baron-Cohen, S., Ashwin, E., Knickmeyer, R., Taylor, K., & Hackett, G. (2009). Fetal testosterone and autistic traits. British Journal of Psychology, 100, 1–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baird, G., Simonoff, E., Pickles, A., Chandler, S., Loucas, T., Meldrum, D., & Charman, T. (2006). Prevalence of disorders of the autism spectrum in a population cohort of children in South Thames: The Special Needs and Autism Project (SNAP). Lancet, 368, 210–215.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (2008). Autism and asperger syndrome. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bejerot, S., & Eriksson, J. M. (2014). Sexuality and gender role in autism spectrum disorder: A case control study. PLoS One, 9, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bölte, S., Poustka, F., & Constantino, J. N. (2008). Assessing autistic traits: Cross-cultural validation of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Autism Research, 1(6), 354–363.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Constantino, J. N., Davis, S. A., Todd, R. D., Schindler, M. K., Gross, M. M., Brophy, S. L., et al. (2003). Validation of a brief quantitative measure of autistic traits: Comparison of the social responsiveness scale with the autism diagnostic interview-revised. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33, 427–433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Constantino, J. N., & Gruber, C. P. (2005). Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Vries, A. L. C., Noens, I. L. J., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., van Berckelaer-Onnes, I. A., & Doreleijers, T. A. (2010). Autism spectrum disorders in gender dysphoric children and adolescents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40, 930–936.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Di Ceglie, D., Skagerberg, E., Baron-Cohen, S. & Auyeung, B. (2014). Empathising and systemising in adolescents with gender dyspohoria, Opticon 1826(16): 6, 1–8.

  • Gallucci, G., Hackerman, F., & Schmidt, C. W. (2005). Gender identity disorder in an adult male with asperger’s syndrome. Sexuality and Disability, 23, 35–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilmour, J., Hill, B., Place, M., & Skuse, D. H. (2004). Social communication deficits in conduct disorder: A clinical and community survey. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 45, 967–978. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.t01-1-00289.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holt, V., Skagerberg. E., & Dunsford, M. (2014). Young people with features of gender dysphoria: Demographics and associated difficulties. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. doi:10.1177/1359104514558431.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, L. A., Rachlin, K., Erickson-Schroth, L., & Janssen, A. (2014). Gender dysphoria and co-occurring autism spectrum disorders: Review, case examples, and treatment considerations. LGBT Health, 1(4), 277–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, R. M., Wheelwright, S., Farrell, K., Martin, E., Green, R., Di Ceglie, D., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2011). Brief report: Female-to-male transsexual people and autistic traits. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42, 301–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landén, M., & Rasmussen, P. (1997). Gender identity disorder in a girl with autism- A case report. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 6, 170–173.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McGuire, J. K., Anderson, C. R., Toomey, R. B., & Russell, S. T. (2010). School climate for transgender youth: A mixed method investigation of student experiences and school responses. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 1175–1188.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mukaddes, N. M. (2002). Gender identity problems in autistic children. Child: Care, Health and Development, 28(6), 529–532.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, M. J., Mayes, S. D., & Smith, L. A. (2011). Brief report: Excellent agreement between two brief autism scales (checklist for autism spectrum disorder and social responsiveness scale) completed independently by parents and the autism diagnostic interview-revised. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 1586–1590.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pasterski, V., Gilligan, L., & Curtis, R. (2014). Traits of autism spectrum disorders in adults with gender dysphoria. Archives of Secual Behavior, 43, 387–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pine, D. S., Guyer, A. E., Goldwin, M., Towbin, K. A., & Leibenluft, E. (2008). Autism spectrum disorder scale scores in pediatric mood and anxiety disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(6), 652–661.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinow, O. (2009). Paraphilia and transgenderism: A connection with Asperger’s Disorder? Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 24, 143–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strang, J. F., Kenworthy, L., Dominska, A., Sokoloff, J., Kenealy, L. E., Berl, M., et al. (2014). Increased gender variance in autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Archives of Sexual Behavior,. doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0285-3.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tateno, M., Tateno, Y., & Saito, T. (2008). Comorbid childhood gender identity disorder in a boy with Asperger syndrome. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 62, 238.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vanderlaan, D. P., Postema, L., Wood, H., Singh, D., Fantus, S., Hyun, J., et al. (2014). Do children with gender dysphoria have intense/obsessional interests? The Journal of Sex Research,. doi:10.1080/00224499.2013.860073.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wigham, S., McConachie, H., Tandos, J., & Le Couteur, A. S. (2012). The reliability and validity of the Social Responsiveness Scale in a UK general child population. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33, 944–950.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, P. G., Allard, A., & Sears, L. (1996). Case study: Cross-gender preoccupations in two male children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 635–642.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, I., Griffin, C., & Wren, B. (2005). The interaction between young people with atypical gender identity organization and their peers. Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 307–315.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, H., Sasaki, S., Bradley, S. J., Singh, D., Fantus, S., Owen-Anderson, A., & Di Giacomo, A. (2013). Patterns of referral to a gender identity service for children and adolescents (1976–2011): Age, sex ratio, and sexual orientation. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 39, 1–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elin Skagerberg.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Skagerberg, E., Di Ceglie, D. & Carmichael, P. Brief Report: Autistic Features in Children and Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 2628–2632 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2413-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2413-x

Keywords

Navigation