Abstract
This study investigated sex/gender differences in camouflaging with children and adolescents (N = 84) with and without an autism diagnosis/increased levels of autistic traits using two conceptualisations/operationalisations of camouflaging. A significant group-by-gender interaction using ANCOVA, with the covariate of verbal IQ, reflected similar levels of social reciprocity in autistic and neurotypical females, whereas autistic males had lower reciprocity than neurotypical males. Autistic females also had higher reciprocity than autistic males, despite similar levels of autistic traits (behavioural camouflaging). Additionally, autistic males and females had similar theory of mind skills, despite females having increased reciprocity (compensatory camouflaging). These findings provide evidence of increased camouflaging in autistic females, which may contribute to delay in the recognition of difficulties and provision of support.
Highlights
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by difficulties with social interaction and communication, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour, activities and interests (American Psychiatric Association 2013)
For RMET-C scores, two possible outliers were investigated; these participants were retained in the analysis as (1) there was no reason to believe they came from a different population than the one in question and (2) statistical results were the same whether they were included or excluded
The results suggested that, irrespective of sex/gender, children and adolescents with autism/high autistic traits who demonstrated compensatory camouflaging had higher IQs compared with individuals who demonstrated low levels of compensatory camouflaging
Summary
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by difficulties with social interaction and communication, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour, activities and interests (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Recent large-scale population studies have, reported a ratio of approximately three males to every female (e.g., Baxter et al 2015; Loomes et al 2017; Zablotsky et al 2015) This shift in recognition of autism in females fits with a growing body of research which reflects an increased clinical awareness of the female autism phenotype (Lai et al 2016). Several qualitative studies have explored the experiences of females diagnosed with autism and these have resulted in rich and detailed accounts of camouflaging (e.g., Bargiela et al 2016; Cridland et al 2014; Hull et al 2017; Tierney et al 2016). Many women reported having experienced a mental health condition, with depression, anxiety and eating disorders being the most common. Hull et al (2017) interviewed 92 autistic adults of all genders about camouflaging, which often was Footnote 2 (continued) autistic female) will be used in this paper (Kenny et al 2016; Vivanti 2019)
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