Prior research examining autistic traits in gender minority adults has reported mixed findings. Most prior studies did not include non-binary individuals. Little is known about the mechanisms shaping autistic traits in gender minority adults. This study examined autistic traits, as well as constructs related to the extreme male brain theory of autism and the mindblindness theory, in transgender and non-binary adults. An online survey was conducted to assess autism-related traits in 323 gender minority adults, including 74 transgender men (individuals assigned female at birth and identify as a man), 95 transgender women (individuals assigned male at birth and identify as a woman), 104 non-binary AFAB (individuals assigned female at birth and identify as non-binary), and 50 non-binary AMAB (individuals assigned male at birth and identify as non-binary). Autistic traits, systemising, empathising, and Theory of Mind (ToM) were measured using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the short forms of the Systemising Quotient (SQ-Short) and the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short), the 10-item version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-10) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Eyes Test). Participants’ scores on these measures were compared with previously published scores based on large-scale general population samples including thousands of participants. On average, compared with control females in the general population samples, both transgender men and non-binary AFAB scored significantly higher on the AQ and the SQ-Short but scored significantly lower on the EQ-Short, the EQ-10, and the Eyes Test. No clear or consistent group differences emerged when transgender women and non-binary AMAB were compared with control males. The present study does not have a large sample of gender minority adults. It has been argued that the measures employed may not provide a precise assessment of the psychological constructs of interest. The present study has a “non-clinical” sample. However, not all gender minorities have access to or require clinical services, and so a “non-clinical” sample may be more representative of the gender minority community as a whole than samples recruited through clinics. The current findings suggest a “masculinised” autism-related profile and reduced ToM in transgender men and in non-binary AFAB. These findings might be interpreted to support the extreme male brain theory of autism and the mindblindness theory. Further research is needed to corroborate these findings.

中文翻译：

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跨性别者和非二元成年人的自闭症特征、系统化、共情和心理理论


先前对少数性别成年人的自闭症特征进行的研究报告了不同的结果。大多数先前的研究不包括非二元个体。人们对性别少数成年人自闭症特征的形成机制知之甚少。这项研究检查了跨性别和非二元成年人的自闭症特征，以及与自闭症的极端男性大脑理论和心盲理论相关的结构。一项在线调查评估了 323 名性别少数成年人的自闭症相关特征，其中包括 74 名跨性别男性（出生时被指定为女性，并被认定为男性）、95 名跨性别女性（出生时被指定为男性，并被认定为女性）、 104 个非二元 AFAB（出生时被指定为女性并识别为非二元）和 50 个非二元 AMAB（出生时被指定为男性并识别为非二元）。使用自闭症谱商 (AQ)、系统化商数 (SQ-Short) 和共情商数 (EQ-Short) 的简写形式、10-项目版本的同理心商数（EQ-10）和“眼中读心测试”（Eyes Test）。将参与者在这些指标上的得分与之前发布的基于大规模一般人群样本（包括数千名参与者）的得分进行比较。平均而言，与一般人群样本中的对照女性相比，跨性别男性和非二元性别 AFAB 在 AQ 和 SQ-Short 上的得分显着较高，但在 EQ-Short、EQ-10 和 Eyes 上的得分显着较低测试。当跨性别女性和非二元 AMAB 与对照男性进行比较时，没有出现明显或一致的群体差异。 本研究没有大量性别少数成年人样本。有人认为，所采用的措施可能无法提供对感兴趣的心理结构的精确评估。本研究有一个“非临床”样本。然而，并非所有性别少数群体都能获得或需要临床服务，因此“非临床”样本可能比通过诊所招募的样本更能代表整个性别少数群体社区。目前的研究结果表明，跨性别男性和非二元 AFAB 中存在“男性化”的自闭症相关特征并减少了 ToM。这些发现可能被解释为支持自闭症的极端男性大脑理论和心盲理论。需要进一步的研究来证实这些发现。