Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42911481›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

Context Matters: Assessing Sex and Diagnostic Differences in Autistic Children's Language Across Tasks With Differing Levels of Structure.

Meredith Cola, Margaret Lyons, Sarah Schillinger, Amanda Lee, Calliana Faulk, Lizzy Fulop, Azia Knox, Nasya Howard, Hannah Franke, Alexandria Mulqueen and 7 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Meredith ColaCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA. colam@chop.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6737-6828
Margaret LyonsCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Sarah SchillingerDepartment of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
Amanda LeeCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Calliana FaulkAJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Lizzy FulopCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Azia KnoxDepartment of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Nasya HowardCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Hannah FrankeCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Alexandria MulqueenCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-5498-8795
Sunghye ChoLinguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Mark Y LibermanLinguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Ashlee Yates FlanaganCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Juhi PandeyCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Robert T SchultzCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.
Sharon Lee ArmstrongDepartment of Psychology, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Julia Parish-MorrisCenter for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2716 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146, USA.

Funding

Digitizing Human Vocal Interaction to Understand and Diagnose AutismR01DC018289 · NIDCD · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · PI PARISH-MORRIS, JULIA · 2020 to 2024
$3.1M
Allerton Foundation Allerton FoundationNational Institute of Child Health and Human Development 5U54HD086984NIDCD NIH HHS R01DC018289
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeExamine how task structure and participant sex influence social-word production in verbally fluent autistic and non-autistic youth during two ADOS‑2 Module 3 tasks (Picture Description and Telling a Story From a Book).

methodsOne hundred eleven verbally fluent autistic and non-autistic youth (ages 6-15) completed ADOS‑2 Module 3. Groups were matched on age and IQ. Transcripts of Picture Description and Telling a Story From a Book were processed with LIWC‑22 to quantify social words. Generalized linear models predicted social word production in each task using age, IQ, sex, and diagnostic group as predictors, including sex-by-diagnosis interactions. Associations between social-word use in each task and ADOS‑2 Social Affect scores were examined within the autistic group.

resultsIn the Picture Description task, there was a significant interactive effect of sex and diagnosis. This was driven by non-autistic girls using more social words than any other subgroup. Autistic girls and boys did not differ. In the Telling a Story From a Book task, there were no significant effects of sex or diagnosis. Within the autistic group, participants who used fewer social words during Picture Description task were rated as having greater social difficulties by expert clinicians.

conclusionTask structure impacts detection of diagnostic and sex-related differences in social language: less structured contexts reveal diagnostic group differences, while structured narrative elicitation attenuates them. Social word production in unstructured settings relates to clinician-rated social difficulties, particularly for autistic girls, highlighting the importance of task selection when assessing pragmatic language.

Indexed as

AutismCommunication and languagePragmaticsSex differencesSocial communicationSocial phenotype

Identifiers

PMID42911481

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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.