Commentary: Sex difference differences? A reply to Constantino Dr Meng-Chuan Lai

Daniel S. Messinger; Gregory S. Young; Sara Jane Webb; Sally Ozonoff; Susan E. Bryson; Alice Carter; Leslie Carver; Tony Charman; Katarzyna Chawarska; Suzanne Curtin; Karen Dobkins; Irva Hertz-Picciotto; Ted Hutman; Jana M. Iverson; Rebecca Landa; Charles A. Nelson; Wendy L. Stone; Helen Tager-Flusberg; Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

doi:10.1186/s13229-016-0093-9

Commentary: Sex difference differences? A reply to Constantino Dr Meng-Chuan Lai

Daniel S. Messinger, Gregory S. Young, Sara Jane Webb, Sally Ozonoff, Susan E. Bryson, Alice Carter, Leslie Carver, Tony Charman, Katarzyna Chawarska, Suzanne Curtin, Karen Dobkins, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Ted Hutman, Jana M. Iverson, Rebecca Landa, Charles A. Nelson, Wendy L. Stone, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

Kennedy Krieger Institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Messinger et al. found a 3.18 odds ratio of male to female ASD recurrence in 1241 prospectively followed high-risk (HR) siblings. Among high-risk siblings (with and without ASD), as well as among 583 low-risk controls, girls exhibited higher performance on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, as well as lower restricted and repetitive behavior severity scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) than boys. That is, female-favoring sex differences in developmental performance and autism traits were evident among low-risk and non-ASD high-risk children, as well as those with ASD. Constantino (Mol Autism) suggests that sex differences in categorical ASD outcomes in Messinger et al. should be understood as a female protective effect. We are receptive to Constantino's (Mol Autism) suggestion, and propose that quantitative sex differences in autism-related features are keys to understanding this female protective effect.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	93
Journal	Molecular Autism
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-016-0093-9
State	Published - Jun 29 2016

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorder
Female protective effect
High-risk siblings
Sex differences

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Molecular Biology
Developmental Neuroscience
Developmental Biology
Psychiatry and Mental health

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10.1186/s13229-016-0093-9

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Messinger, D. S., Young, G. S., Webb, S. J., Ozonoff, S., Bryson, S. E., Carter, A., Carver, L., Charman, T., Chawarska, K., Curtin, S., Dobkins, K., Hertz-Picciotto, I., Hutman, T., Iverson, J. M., Landa, R., Nelson, C. A., Stone, W. L., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Zwaigenbaum, L. (2016). Commentary: Sex difference differences? A reply to Constantino Dr Meng-Chuan Lai. Molecular Autism, 7(1), Article 93. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-016-0093-9

Messinger, DS, Young, GS, Webb, SJ, Ozonoff, S, Bryson, SE, Carter, A, Carver, L, Charman, T, Chawarska, K, Curtin, S, Dobkins, K, Hertz-Picciotto, I, Hutman, T, Iverson, JM, Landa, R, Nelson, CA, Stone, WL, Tager-Flusberg, H & Zwaigenbaum, L 2016, 'Commentary: Sex difference differences? A reply to Constantino Dr Meng-Chuan Lai', Molecular Autism, vol. 7, no. 1, 93. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-016-0093-9

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abstract = "Messinger et al. found a 3.18 odds ratio of male to female ASD recurrence in 1241 prospectively followed high-risk (HR) siblings. Among high-risk siblings (with and without ASD), as well as among 583 low-risk controls, girls exhibited higher performance on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, as well as lower restricted and repetitive behavior severity scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) than boys. That is, female-favoring sex differences in developmental performance and autism traits were evident among low-risk and non-ASD high-risk children, as well as those with ASD. Constantino (Mol Autism) suggests that sex differences in categorical ASD outcomes in Messinger et al. should be understood as a female protective effect. We are receptive to Constantino's (Mol Autism) suggestion, and propose that quantitative sex differences in autism-related features are keys to understanding this female protective effect.",

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AU - Charman, Tony

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AB - Messinger et al. found a 3.18 odds ratio of male to female ASD recurrence in 1241 prospectively followed high-risk (HR) siblings. Among high-risk siblings (with and without ASD), as well as among 583 low-risk controls, girls exhibited higher performance on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, as well as lower restricted and repetitive behavior severity scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) than boys. That is, female-favoring sex differences in developmental performance and autism traits were evident among low-risk and non-ASD high-risk children, as well as those with ASD. Constantino (Mol Autism) suggests that sex differences in categorical ASD outcomes in Messinger et al. should be understood as a female protective effect. We are receptive to Constantino's (Mol Autism) suggestion, and propose that quantitative sex differences in autism-related features are keys to understanding this female protective effect.

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Commentary: Sex difference differences? A reply to Constantino Dr Meng-Chuan Lai

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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