Autism traits and gender diversity in adults from the general population: Examining the role of restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests

Background

Autism is diagnosed on the basis of persistent social-communication difficulties and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests (RRBIs). Increasing evidence indicates that autism frequently co-occurs with gender diversity, yet the nature of this intersection remains unclear. The current study aimed to address this insufficiently understood intersection by examining the predictive role of RRBIs in gender dysphoric traits and gender diversity experiences, adopting an individual differences approach.

Method

Two hundred and thirty-eight adults from the general population, predominantly undergraduate students, completed self-report measures of autism traits (Autism-Spectrum Quotient), RRBIs (Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire-3), gender dysphoria (Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale–Gender Spectrum) and gender diversity (Gender Self-Report).

Results

Correlational analyses showed that both social-communication difficulties and RRBIs were positively associated with gender dysphoric traits, as well as binary and nonbinary gender diversity experiences. Hierarchical regressions, however, revealed that only RRBIs, and not social-communication difficulties, were uniquely associated with the gender-related variables in the general population.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that the dimensional relationship between autism traits and gender diversity may be largely attributable to specific autism traits (i.e., RRBIs). This raises further questions about the nature of this association in the general population and highlights the need for future research to examine the role of RRBIs in the intersection of autism and gender diversity.