Gender diversity is correlated with dimensional neurodivergent traits but not categorical neurodevelopmental diagnoses in children
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gender clinic and single-item questionnaire-based data report increased co-occurrence of gender diversity and neurodevelopmental conditions. The nuances of these associations are under-studied. We used a transdiagnostic approach, combining categorical and dimensional characterization of neurodiversity, to further the understanding of its associations with gender diversity in identity and expression in children. METHODS: Data from 291 children (Autism N = 104, ADHD N = 104, Autism + ADHD N = 17, neurotypical N = 66) aged 4-12 years enrolled in the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Network were analyzed. Gender diversity was measured multi-dimensionally using a well-validated parent-report instrument, the Gender Identity Questionnaire for Children (GIQC). We used gamma regression models to determine the significant correlates of gender diversity among age, puberty, sex-assigned-at-birth, categorical neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and dimensional neurodivergent traits (using the Social Communication Questionnaire and the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behavior Rating Scales). Internalizing and externalizing problems were included as covariates. RESULTS: Neither a categorical diagnosis of autism nor ADHD significantly correlated with current GIQC-derived scores. Instead, higher early-childhood dimensional autistic social-communication traits correlated with higher current overall gender incongruence (as defined by GIQC-14 score). This correlation was potentially moderated by sex-assigned-at-birth: greater early-childhood autistic social-communication traits were associated with higher current overall gender incongruence in assigned-males-at-birth, but not assigned-females-at-birth. For fine-grained gender diversity domains, greater autistic restricted-repetitive behavior traits were associated with greater diversity in gender identity across sexes-assigned-at-birth; greater autistic social-communication traits were associated with lower stereotypical male expression across sexes-assigned-at-birth. CONCLUSIONS: Dimensional autistic traits, rather than ADHD traits or categorical neurodevelopmental diagnoses, were associated with gender diversity domains across neurodivergent and neurotypical children. The association between early-childhood autistic social-communication traits and overall current gender diversity was most evident in assigned-males-at-birth. Nuanced interrelationships between neurodivergence and gender diversity should be better understood to clarify developmental links and to offer tailored support for neurodivergent and gender-diverse populations.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.005 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".