Gender Dysphoria and Related Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Bilingual Review of the Literature

Abstract

The association between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and gender dysphoria (GD) has attracted a great deal of interest among child and adolescent psychiatrists in Japan. In clinical settings, it is common to hear complaints or concerns related to GD from adolescents with ASD. In the past few years, several review articles have been published on ASD and GD. The Initial Clinical Guidelines for co-occurring ASD and GD in adolescents were published in 2018, suggesting the increasing need of intervention for these conditions worldwide. Although a large amount of evidence has been accumulated regarding the co-occurrence of ASD and GD, all review articles were based solely on case reports and articles published in English. In this article, we performed a bilingual literature review using English- and Japanese-language literature databases. We found 13 case reports in English and 11 case reports in Japanese. The Japanese literature included articles on gender-related symptoms in ASD, but not limited to ASD with comorbid GD. Wattel and her colleagues proposed 15 theories on the link between ASD and GD. We classified the reported cases into one or more of the fifteen theories proposed by Wattel. These theories seemed useful in understanding the co-occurrence of ASD and GD, especially in AMAB cases. Wattel's 15 theories are categorized into biological, psychological, and social factors, respectively. With regard to the social factors, we discussed Japanese school culture and psychological burden among gender-dysphoric students. Further studies are awaited.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; gender diversity; gender dysphoria; gender incongruence; gender nonconformity; gender variance; neurodevelopmental disorders; transgender.