Gender Difference in the Association Between Executive Function and Autistic Traits in Typically Developing Children.

Dai et al. (2019) looked at 413 typical 6- to 9-year-olds. They tested how each child’s executive function related to their level of autistic traits. Then they split the data by gender to see if the link looked the same for boys and girls.

The team found that executive function predicted autistic traits differently for boys and girls. In plain words, the same EF score meant something different depending on the child’s sex. This hints that even in typical kids, the EF-autism link is gender-tuned.

Amore et al. (2011) saw the same pattern inside autism: only girls with ASD showed a clear stop-signal delay, while boys with ASD looked like typical peers. Meixia’s 2019 data now show the split starts in neurotypical kids, not just in ASD.

Menezes et al. (2025) pushed the idea further into adults. They found sensory hyporeactivity—not hyper—predicts EF trouble, and again the numbers land differently for men and women. The gender-EF link seems to ride the lifespan.

Harrop et al. (2018) used eye-tracking and showed ASD girls kept typical face-looking, while ASD boys did not. Meixia adds a cognitive angle: EF also paints a sex-specific picture, so both social attention and executive control diverge by gender.

If the same EF score carries a different autism-risk message for boys and girls, one-size assessment forms will miss girls. You can adjust intake by adding sex-specific EF questions or lowering trait cut-offs for females. Try it next time you screen a bright but anxious girl who “doesn’t look autistic.”