ArticleAutism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research2021
Do Biological Sex and Early Developmental Milestones Predict the Age of First Concerns and Eventual Diagnosis in Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Article in Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- The use of Language ENvironment Analysis in autism research: A systematic review.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2025Pooled it
- Initial diagnosis patterns of coexisting mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions in autistic children and youth: Evidence from a nationally representative sample in Canada.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Delayed Milestones and Demographic Factors Relate to the Accuracy of Autism Screening in Females Using Spoken Language.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Relations Between Preferential Looking to Synchronous Audiovisual Speech and Expressive Language in Infants With Autistic and Non-Autistic Siblings.Mind, brain and education : the official journal of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society · 2026Article
- Current situation and influencing factors of Chinese children's diagnosis delay in autism.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2025Article
- Frustration in healthcare: Sex differences in parental perceptions of medical visits for autistic children.Research in autism · 2025Article
- Clinical and sociodemographic factors related to the timing of autism diagnosis in an Italian cohort of children.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Early selective attention to the articulating mouth as a potential female-specific marker of better language development in autism: a review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Dysregulation Profile in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Italian Multi-Center Perspective.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Time is of the essence: Age at autism diagnosis, sex assigned at birth, and psychopathology.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Article
- Gender, assigned sex at birth, and gender diversity: Windows into diagnostic timing disparities in autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Article
- Statin Consumption and Appealing Colors: Exploring Statin-Related Injuries for Children Under the Age of Three Years.Cureus · 2024Article
- Autism Prevalence and the Intersectionality of Assigned Sex at Birth, Race, and Ethnicity on Age of Diagnosis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Article
- Are the diagnostic rates of autistic females increasing? An examination of state-wide trends.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2024Article
- Sex differences during development in cortical temporal processing and event related potentials in wild-type and fragile X syndrome model mice.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2024Article
- The Importance of Language Delays as an Early Indicator of Subsequent ASD Diagnosis in Public Healthcare Settings.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Article
- Altered Developmental Trajectory in Male and Female Rats in a Prenatal Valproic Acid Exposure Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Article
- Association Between Early Developmental Milestones and Autism Spectrum Disorder.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2023Article
- Sex/Gender Differences in the Language Profiles of Italian Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Retrospective Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Sex differences in neurodevelopmental trajectories in children with different levels of autistic traits.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Despite advances in early detection, the average age of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis exceeds 4 years and is often later in females. In typical development, biological sex predicts inter-individual variation across multiple developmental milestones, with females often exhibiting earlier progression. The goal of this study was to examine sex differences in caregiver-reported developmental milestones (first word, phrase, walking) and their contribution to timing of initial concerns expressed by caregivers and eventual age of diagnosis. 195 (105 males) children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years with a clinical diagnosis of ASD were recruited to the study (mean IQ = 99.76). While developmental milestones did not predict timing of diagnosis or age parents first expressed concerns, females had earlier first words and phrases than males. There was a marginal difference in the age of diagnosis, with females receiving their diagnosis 1 year later than males. Despite sex differences in developmental milestones and diagnostic variables, IQ was the most significant predictor in the timing of initial concerns and eventual diagnosis, suggesting children with lower IQ, regardless of sex, are identified and diagnosed earlier. Overall, biological sex and developmental milestones did not account for a large proportion of variance for the eventual age of ASD diagnosis, suggesting other factors (such as IQ and the timing of initial concerns) are potentially more influential. LAY SUMMARY: In this study, a later age of diagnosis in females having ASD was confirmed; however, biological sex was not the stronger predictor of age of diagnosis. Parents reported that females learned language more quickly than males, and parents noted their first concerns when females were older than males. In this sample, the strongest predictor of age of diagnosis was the age of first concerns.
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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.