ReviewCurrent psychiatry reports2018
Sex Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Review.
Review in Current psychiatry reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 205 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
205 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 394 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does the Extreme Male Brain Hypothesis of Autism Apply More to Females Than Males? A Systematic and Meta-Analytic Approach.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Pooled it
- The effects of virtual reality interventions on outcomes related to well-being among autistic children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Animal studies reveal downregulation of the Beclin-1 autophagy pathway as shared mechanism in Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Association between maternal asthma and ASD/ADHD in offspring: A meta-analysis based on observational studies.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Is There a Bias Towards Males in the Diagnosis of Autism? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2025Pooled it
- Investigating the Presence of Autistic Traits and Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms in Anorexia Nervosa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Pooled it
- The diagnosis of ASD with MRI: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- DNA Methylation Biomarkers for Young Children with Idiopathic Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Brain-based sex differences in autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan: A systematic review of structural MRI, fMRI, and DTI findings.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2021Pooled it
- Sex/gender differences in the human autistic brains: A systematic review of 20 years of neuroimaging research.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2021Pooled it
- Alteration of Resting Electroencephalography by Acute Caffeine Consumption in Early Phase Psychosis.Clinical EEG and neuroscience · 2022Trial
- Homozygous CHD8 mutation intensifies ASD phenotypes and attenuates sex differences.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Item-Level Sex Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder Measures: A MIMIC Model Analysis of ADOS-2 and ADI-R in a Referred Pediatric Sample.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Sexual dimorphism of autism-like phenotypes in microglial eIF4E overexpression mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Individual and Sex Differences in Behavior and Cortical Excitability in the Rat Valproate Model of Autism.Cells · 2026Article
- Myelin, white matter, and social deficits in autism spectrum disorder.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Preservation of Higher-Order Cognition in Autistic Females: Evidence from Two Deeply-Phenotyped Cohorts in Hong Kong and the United States.Research square · 2026Article
- Sex Differences in Psychopathology and Neurocognition in Community Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
- Social isolation disrupts prefrontal excitatory-inhibitory balance to impair social novelty memory in adult male mice.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neural Sensitivity to Conversational Inter-Speaker Gaps in the Broad Autism Phenotype.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
145 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purpose of reviewNeurodevelopmental disorders disproportionately affect males. The mechanisms underlying male vulnerability or female protection are not known and remain understudied. Determining the processes involved is crucial to understanding the etiology and advancing treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we review current findings and theories that contribute to male preponderance of neurodevelopmental disorders, with a focus on autism. RECENT
findingsRecent work on the biological basis of the male preponderance of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders includes discussion of a higher genetic burden in females and sex-specific gene mutations or epigenetic changes that differentially confer risk to males or protection to females. Other mechanisms discussed are sex chromosome and sex hormone involvement. Specifically, fetal testosterone is involved in many aspects of development and may interact with neurotransmitter, neuropeptide, or immune pathways to contribute to male vulnerability. Finally, the possibilities of female underdiagnosis and a multi-hit hypothesis are discussed. This review highlights current theories of male bias in developmental disorders. Topics include environmental, genetic, and epigenetic mechanisms; theories of sex chromosomes, hormones, neuroendocrine, and immune function; underdiagnosis of females; and a multi-hit hypothesis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.