Much of past research has been dedicated to refining the operationalization and correlates of the broader autism phenotype (BAP) and less on how the BAP differs by socio-demographic characteristics, like age—particularly after midlife. This gap is important because other nonclinical trait-like characteristics (e.g., personality) have shown considerable age differences, leading to work assessing the malleability of psychological characteristics and improving outcomes for individuals and their significant others. In the current study, we examined cross-sectional age differences in the BAP in a large sample of adults ranging in age from 18 to 85. We recruited a sample of 2966 adults ranging in age from 18 to 85 (M_age = 36.53, SD = 12.61; 58.9% Female; 1.1% with an ASD diagnosis) recruited from an online survey service. We found that total BAP scores were higher in younger adults and lower among older adults. These differences were particularly true for pragmatic language difficulties, with this component of the BAP showing the most dramatic age differences. Aloofness showed similar negative associations with age, albeit much smaller. Rigidity was not significantly associated with age. The results are consistent with other research showing an abatement of symptoms among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) across early life and theories predicting changes in other psychological characteristics (e.g., personality). The results are discussed in the context of the malleability of ASD and BAP traits across life, the clinical implications of these changes, and the origins and consequences for lifespan differences in BAP.

中文翻译：

---

从青年到老年，更广泛的自闭症表型特征的年龄差异

过去的大部分研究都致力于完善更广泛的自闭症表型 (BAP) 的操作化和相关性，而较少关注 BAP 如何因社会人口特征（如年龄）而异——尤其是在中年之后。这种差距很重要，因为其他非临床特征样特征（例如，个性）显示出相当大的年龄差异，导致评估心理特征的可塑性和改善个人及其重要他人的结果的工作。在当前的研究中，我们检查了年龄从 18 岁到 85 岁的大样本成年人中 BAP 的横断面年龄差异。我们招募了 2966 名年龄从 18 岁到 85 岁的成年人样本（M_年龄= 36.53，SD= 12.61; 58.9% 女性；1.1% 的 ASD 诊断）从在线调查服务中招募。我们发现年轻人的 BAP 总分较高，而老年人的 BAP 总分较低。这些差异对于语用语言困难尤其如此，BAP 的这一部分显示出最显着的年龄差异。冷漠与年龄显示出类似的负面关联，尽管要小得多。刚性与年龄没有显着相关性。结果与其他研究一致，这些研究表明自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 个体在早期生活中的症状有所减轻，以及预测其他心理特征（例如，性格）变化的理论。结果在 ASD 和 BAP 性状在整个生命中的延展性、这些变化的临床意义、