Girls who play with boyish toys are more likely to be autistic, new, disturbing research revealed today.
Swedish researchers, who analyzed data from more than 700 children, found that girls who exhibited more “masculine play” were at greater risk of “autistic traits.”
However, boys who preferred to play with dolls were more likely to have relationship problems with other children.
However, the scientists from Karlstad University acknowledge that their findings do not prove a definitive “link to behavioral problems or autistic traits.”
Swedish researchers, who analyzed data from more than 700 children, found that girls who engaged in more “masculine play” were at greater risk of “autistic traits.” Yet boys who preferred playing with dolls were more likely to have relationship problems with other children.
Using surveys, they analyzed how the children, on average seven years old, of playing and their behavior.
Gender nonconformity (GNC) in play was assessed using 12 “feminine” and 12 “masculine” toys, play activities, and child characteristics.
For example, playing with toy guns, trains, airplanes or swords is generally characterized as ‘masculine’, while playing with jewelry, playing with ‘house’ (e.g. cleaning or cooking) or dressing up in ‘girly’ clothes is generally characterized as ‘feminine’.
In both sexes, higher levels of GNC play were associated with increases in behavioral problems, including hyperactivity and inattention.
The analysis also found that higher scores on feminine play in boys were associated with problems in peer interactions, while higher scores on masculine play in girls were associated with a greater likelihood of autistic features.
“The results showed that children who played more with toys traditionally intended for the opposite sex showed more autistic traits and behavioral problems,” the researchers said.
‘At the same time, it is very important to keep in mind that the fact that a girl chooses to play rougher or a boy plays with dolls does not mean that there is a link with behavioral problems or autistic traits in that child.’
Author Marlene Stratmann added: ‘Based on our research, we can say that we saw a 7 percent increase in autistic traits in girls who exhibited more masculine play behaviors, compared to girls who exhibited more feminine play behaviors.
‘It is important to keep in mind that we only had access to autistic traits and not autism diagnoses. Also, we conducted a cross-sectional study and cannot determine whether play behavior increases the risk of autistic traits in girls or vice versa.’
The findings were published in the journal Plos One.
Recent studies already suggest that there is a link between gender nonconformity, gender dysmorphia and autism.
Research has shown that people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth are six times more likely to be autistic.
Last year it emerged that an NHS children’s gender clinic ignored evidence showing that 97.5 per cent of children seeking gender reassignment had autism, depression or other problems.
Clinical staff at the Tavistock Clinic feared they were ‘unnecessarily prescribing drugs to autistic children’, which were being treated as ‘collateral damage’.
The book shows that seventy percent of children referred for help had more than five ‘related characteristics’, such as abuse, anxiety, eating disorders or bullying.
Dr Anna Hutchinson, a senior clinical psychologist at the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), who joined us in early 2013, said she was “appalled” by the possibility that the service might “get it wrong”.
It is estimated that around 700,000 Britons and 5.4 million adults in the US have an autism diagnosis.
According to a 2021 study from Newcastle University, approximately one in 57 (1.76 percent) children in the UK has an autism spectrum disorder.
If someone has autism, their brain works differently than normal.
It is not a disease and people have it from birth. However, it is sometimes not discovered until childhood, and sometimes much later.
Autism exists on a spectrum. Some people can live fully functioning lives without any additional help. Others may need full-time assistance.
Classic symptoms of autism include difficulty communicating, experiencing certain situations as overwhelming, and repetitive behavior.
In recent years, the numbers have risen sharply, suggesting that the condition is now being overdiagnosed.
In April it was announced that children in the UK must wait up to four years to be diagnosed with autism.