Author(s) :

Ahn Jo.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known to be a neurodevelopmental condition that requires timely and accurate diagnosis to access early intervention and support. Previous studies have reported racial and gender disparities in autism diagnosis. However, only limited quantitative research has examined whether gender-based differences in autism diagnosis prevalence vary across ethnic groups. This study seeks to address this literature gap by attempting to answer the research question about whether the gender gap in autism diagnosis prevalence differ between Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations in the United States. Using publicly available, aggregated autism prevalence data obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, this study has generated an ecological linear regression model with an interaction term to assess intersectional patterns possibly shown in diagnosis disparities. Since the analysis relies exclusively on aggregated, population-level surveillance data, all findings demonstrate study-level associations instead of individual-level relationships. Therefore, the results in this study shall not be interpreted as causal effects or as directly applicable to children on individual-level. This study hypothesized that the gender gap in autism diagnosis prevalence may be larger within Hispanic populations than within non-Hispanic populations. The results showed that greater gender-based and ethnic disparities were correlated with lower reported autism prevalence. There was a positive interaction between gender and ethnicity, but not statistically significant. These findings in the study suggest that, although the evidence was insufficient to confirm the effect conclusively, gender disparities in autism diagnosis may be enhanced within Hispanic populations. Overall, this study contributes to the intersectional research with quantitative evidence to further investigate autism diagnosis disparities, while highlighting the importance of culturally and gender-responsive diagnostic practices.