This paper examined whether the belief that ASD is more common in males is an accurate representation of sex difference in ASD’s prevalence, or if it is representative of “measurement bias [that] hinder[s] early diagnosis in females.” Through modeling social communication (SC) and repetitive behaviors (RRB) for both males and females through directly assessing two groups of children from 6 to 60 months of age, the authors were able determine two latent classes in both models that had an equal sex ratio for the high-concern clusters. This paper’s findings indicate that it is important to avoid sex-related measurement bias in diagnoses by identifying sex-specific patterns of ASD emergence; and that the currently presumed discrepancy of ASD prevalence between men and women may be partially due to sex-related measurement bias in the past.
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