The estimated prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is consistently higher in males than females. Gender differences in ASD have long been debated and are influenced by the historical period and source of the sample. The current study reports gender differences in core symptoms, associated features, and treatment response in 682 youth (585 males, 97 females) with ASD. The sample included participants (mean = 7.4 years; range 3–17 years) from six federally-funded, multisite, randomized clinical trials. These trials collected the same measures of social disability, repetitive behavior, adaptive skills, disruptive behavior, and anxiety pretreatment and used the Improvement scale of the Clinical Global Impression at study endpoint. Exploratory analyses yielded no differences between males and females across numerous pre-treatment measures. The rate of positive response was 49.7% for males and 53.6% for females (Chi square = 0.50; p = 0.48). In this sample of convenience, youth with ASD clinical characteristics and response to treatment showed no significant gender differences.

男性自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的估计患病率始终高于女性。ASD中的性别差异由来已久，并受到历史时期和样本来源的影响。本研究报告了682名ASD青年（682名男性，男585名，女97名）的核心症状，相关特征和治疗反应方面的性别差异。该样本包括六项由联邦政府资助，多站点，随机临床试验的参与者（平均7.4岁；范围3-17岁）。这些试验收集了相同的社交残疾，重复性行为，适应性技能，破坏性行为和焦虑预处理的量度，并在研究终点使用了临床总体印象改善量表。探索性分析显示，在许多预处理措施中，男性和女性之间没有差异。p  = 0.48）。在这种方便的样本中，具有ASD临床特征和对治疗的反应的年轻人没有明显的性别差异。