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Gender differences in self-reported camouflaging in autistic and non-autistic adults.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Lai, Meng-Chuan 
Baron-Cohen, Simon 
Allison, Carrie 
Smith, Paula 

Abstract

Social camouflaging describes the use of strategies to compensate for and mask autistic characteristics during social interactions. A newly developed self-reported measure of camouflaging (Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire) was used in an online survey to measure gender differences in autistic (n = 306) and non-autistic adults (n = 472) without intellectual disability for the first time. Controlling for age and autistic-like traits, an interaction between gender and diagnostic status was found: autistic females demonstrated higher total camouflaging scores than autistic males (partial η2 = 0.08), but there was no camouflaging gender difference for non-autistic people. Autistic females scored higher than males on two of three Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire subscales: Masking (partial η2 = 0.05) and Assimilation (partial η2 = 0.06), but not on the Compensation subscale. No differences were found between non-autistic males and females on any subscale. No differences were found between non-binary individuals and other genders in either autistic or non-autistic groups, although samples were underpowered. These findings support previous observations of greater camouflaging in autistic females than males and demonstrate for the first time no self-reported gender difference in non-autistic adults.

Description

Keywords

adult, autism, camouflaging, compensation, females, gender differences, masking, Adult, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Self Report, Sex Factors, Social Behavior, Surveys and Questionnaires

Journal Title

Autism

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1362-3613
1461-7005

Volume Title

24

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Rights

All rights reserved