Table 3. Gender role and gender identity measures in 50 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 53 neurotypical controls.
| ASD group | Control group | Effect size | |||||||||
| MF Gender role | Sex | N | Mean(s.d.) | z-score | N | Mean(s.d.) | z-score | t(df) | P | r | |
| MFM subscale score | M | 26 | 41.7(6.2) | −1.09 (0.99) | 28 | 47.9(6.0) | −0.1 (0.96) | −3.7(52) | 0.0005 | 0.46 | ↓ |
| F | 24 | 40.0(6.6) | −0.91 (1.13) | 25 | 47.2(5.8) | 0.33 (0.99) | −4.1(47) | 0.0002 | 0.51 | ↓ | |
| MFF subscale score | M | 26 | 44.6(6.1) | 0.45 (1.28) | 28 | 42.2(4.2) | −0.04 (0.87) | 1.7(52) | 0.1 | 0.22 | ± |
| F | 24 | 45.8(6.2) | −0.15 (1.41) | 25 | 46.9(4.3) | 0.11 (0.98) | −0.8(47) | 0.4 | 0.11 | ± | |
| Gender identity and gender behaviour | n(%) | n(%) | χ2(df) | P | Φ | ||||||
| Gender-atypical identity in adulthood | M | 26 | 3(11.5) | 28 | 1(3.6) | 1.3(1) | 0.3 | ± | |||
| F | 24 | 8(33) | 25 | 0(0) | 10.0(2) | 0.002 | 0.45 | ↑ | |||
| †Androgynous behaviour in childhood | M | 22 | 5(23) | 28 | 7(25) | 0.04(1) | 0.8 | - | ± | ||
| F | 19 | 12(67) | 24 | 8(33) | 3.9(1) | 0.05 | 0.31 | ↑ | |||
MFM and MFF scales' z-scores normalised for gender by data from the MF validation study. ↑ denotes an increase and ↓ a decrease in masculinity.
M = Males; F = Females;
MFM = The Masculine subscale score for self-rated masculine gender role;
MFF = The Feminine subscale score for self-rated feminine gender role; MWU = Mann-Whitney U test.
†
2 men and 4 women with ASD and 1 woman in the control group responded “I don't know” and thus excluded in the analyses; in addition to missing data in 2 men and 1 woman with ASD.