Tomboyish girls who play with boys’ toys are more likely to be autistic, a worrying new study published today suggests.
Swedish researchers, who analyzed data from more than 700 children, found that girls who participated in more “masculine games” were at greater risk of having “autistic traits.”
However, children who preferred to play with dolls were more likely to have relationship problems with other children.
But the Karlstad University scientists acknowledged that their findings do not prove a definitive link to behavioural difficulties or autistic traits.
Swedish researchers, who analysed data from more than 700 children, found that girls who played more “masculine” games were at higher risk of having “autistic traits”. However, boys who preferred to play with dolls were more likely to have relationship problems with other children.
Through surveys, they analyzed how children, seven years old on average, I liked playing and his behavior.
Gender nonconformity (GNG) in play was determined using 12 “feminine” and 12 “masculine” toys, play activities, and child characteristics.
For example, playing with toy guns, trains, airplanes, or swords would typically be characterized as “masculine,” while playing with jewelry, playing house as if cleaning or cooking, or dressing up in “girly” clothes would typically be considered “feminine.”
In both sexes, higher levels of GNC play were associated with greater behavioral difficulties, including hyperactivity and inattention.
The analysis also revealed that higher scores on the feminine game in boys were related to problems in peer relationships, while higher scores on the masculine game in girls were related to a higher likelihood of autistic traits.
“The results showed that children who played more with toys traditionally considered for the opposite sex had more autistic traits and behavioral problems,” the researchers said.
‘At the same time, it’s very important to keep in mind that just because a girl decides to play more roughly or a boy plays with dolls, it doesn’t mean there will be a link to behavioural difficulties or autistic traits in that child.’
Author Marlene Stratmann added: ‘Based on our research, we can say that we saw a 7 per cent increase in autistic traits in girls who expressed more masculine play behaviour compared to girls who expressed more feminine play behaviour.
‘It is important to note that we only had access to autistic traits and not autism diagnoses and also that we conducted a cross-sectional study and cannot determine whether gaming behavior increased the risk of autistic traits in girls or whether it is the other way around.’
The findings were published in the journal Plus One.
Recent studies have already begun to suggest a link between gender nonconformity, gender dysmorphia, and autism.
People who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth have been found to be up to six times more likely to be autistic.
Last year, it emerged that an NHS children’s gender clinic “ignored” evidence that 97.5 per cent of children seeking sex changes had autism, depression or other problems.
Doctors working at the Tavistock Clinic said they feared they were “unnecessarily over-medicating autistic children” who were being treated as “collateral damage”.
Seventy percent of children referred to the service had more than five “associated features” such as abuse, anxiety, eating disorders or bullying, the book reveals.
Dr Anna Hutchinson, a senior clinical psychologist at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), who joined in early 2013, said she was “horrified” that the service “was getting things wrong”.
It is estimated that around 700,000 British adults and 5.4 million US adults have been diagnosed with autism.
According to a 2021 Newcastle University study, around one in 57 children (1.76%) in the UK are on the spectrum.
Having autism means that a person’s brain works differently than normal.
It is not a disease and people have it from the moment they are born, although it may not be detected until childhood and sometimes much later.
Autism occurs on a spectrum. Some people can lead fully functional lives without additional help, while others may require full-time assistance.
Classic signs of autism include communication problems, feeling that certain situations are overwhelming, and repetitive behaviors.
Rates have soared in recent years, prompting suggestions that the disorder is now being overdiagnosed.
In April it was revealed that children across the UK are waiting up to four years to receive an autism diagnosis.
