Sex differences in autism spectrum disorder
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring sex differences in the clinical, cognitive and neurobiological profiles of adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
IRAS ID
226293
Contact name
Sarah Carrington
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Aston University
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
The aim of this research is to identify key differences between ‘male’ and ‘female’ profiles of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although ASD is more common in males, there is growing recognition that females with ASD are underdiagnosed. Females tend to be diagnosed later than males, often in adolescence. Adolescence is a period in which internalising behaviours such as anxiety and depressive symptoms begin to emerge and are more common in females. Impaired emotion regulation (ER) is described as an associated feature of ASD. As such, we propose that differences in ER may be a potential mechanism underlying the differing presentation of males and females with ASD.
The proposed research will compare male and female adolescents (10-18-year-olds) both with and without a diagnosis of ASD. The families of 60 children (30 females) diagnosed with ASD, recruited through Forward Thinking Birmingham and services supporting people with ASD in the West Midlands will be invited to participate along with non-clinical control sample (60 children, 30 females) recruited through local schools, community and Aston University social media. Children will complete: a simple computer-based task to assess how they regulate emotion in everyday situations, cognitive ability assessment and questionnaires about their emotions. We will compare clinical profiles of males and females with ASD by inviting the parents of those children to complete a comprehensive developmental history interview (DISCO). Additionally, in the second part of the study, a subset of 40 participants (20 ASD, 10 females) will be invited for multimodal neuroimaging (MEG and MRI) scans to complete a picture-based variation of the ER task. We believe this study is a crucial step to improve our understanding of how ASD condition presents in females which could benefit them with appropriate support earlier in life and possibly reduce the prevalence of comorbidity issues like anxiety and depression.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0349
Date of REC Opinion
4 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion