Gendered play behaviours in autistic and non-autistic children: a population-based cohort study

Gender-typical play is observed throughout childhood for non-autistic children. However there has been limited research into the gender-typicality of autistic children’s play compared to that of non-autistic children. In a longitudinal population-based cohort we compared gendered play behaviours in autistic and non-autistic children using standardised parent-report (30, 42 and 57 months) and child-report (8 years) data (N = 11,251). We observed no difference in gendered play behaviours between girls with or without autism at any time point. Autistic and non-autistic boys did not differ in the gender-typicality of their play when aged 30 months, but the play of autistic boys appeared less masculine than that of non-autistic boys (β= -1.1, 95% CI -2.1 to -0.2; and β= -2.6, 95% CI -4.7 to -0.5) at 42 and 57 months. Autistic boys also self-reported less masculine play behaviours than non-autistic boys at 8 years of age (β=-3.4, 95% CI -6.6 to -0.2). We found that autistic boys’ play was less gender-typical than that of non-autistic boys in middle and later childhood. Our findings highlight the importance of examining gendered play behaviours in a developmental context and have relevance for understanding the development of gender identity in autism.