Abstract
It is unclear whether transgender and gender-diverse individuals have elevated rates of autism diagnosis or traits related to autism compared to cisgender individuals in large non-clinic-based cohorts. To investigate this, we use five independently recruited cross-sectional datasets consisting of 641,860 individuals who completed information on gender, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diagnoses including autism, and measures of traits related to autism (self-report measures of autistic traits, empathy, systemizing, and sensory sensitivity). Compared to cisgender individuals, transgender and gender-diverse individuals have, on average, higher rates of autism, other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diagnoses. For both autistic and non-autistic individuals, transgender and gender-diverse individuals score, on average, higher on self-report measures of autistic traits, systemizing, and sensory sensitivity, and, on average, lower on self-report measures of empathy. The results may have clinical implications for improving access to mental health care and tailoring adequate support for transgender and gender-diverse individuals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 3959 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 7 Aug 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020, The Author(s).
Funding
This study was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Wellcome Trust (214322/Z/18/Z), the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the Autism Research Trust, and the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care-East of England (CLAHRC-EoE). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The authors also received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 777394. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and EFPIA and Autism Speaks, Autistica, SFARI. Funding for the Autism and Physical Health Survey was provided by the Autism Research Trust, the Rosetrees Trust, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and the Corbin Charitable Trust. Thanks also to the Cambridge Autism Research Database, Autistica’s Discover Network, and various autism support groups and charities for assisting our recruitment for the APHS. Varun Warrier is supported by the Bowring Research Fellowship at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. D.M.G. was supported in part by the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program. M.-C.L. is supported by the Academic Scholars Award from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, the Ontario Brain Institute via the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders (POND) Network (IDS-I l-02), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (PJT 159578 and a CIHR Sex and Gender Science Chair, GSB-171373), and the Slaight Family Child and Youth Mental Health Innovation Fund via the CAMH Foundation.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Autism Research Trust | |
| Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Corbin Charitable Trust | |
| National Institute of Health Research | |
| Slaight Family Child and Youth Mental Health Innovation Fund | |
| Autism Speaks | |
| Ontario Brain Institute | |
| Wellcome Trust | 214322/Z/18/Z |
| European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations | |
| Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative | |
| Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation | |
| Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto | |
| Canadian Institutes of Health Research | GSB-171373, PJT 159578 |
| Medical Research Council | |
| Rosetrees Trust | |
| Horizon 2020 | |
| Innovative Medicines Initiative | 777394 |
| Templeton World Charity Foundation | |
| Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care - Greater Manchester |
