Differentiating autism from psychiatric conditions in adult women : perspectives from clinicians

Student project started in September 2019 (Julie Cumin's Master Thesis). 

If you need more informations, please email: julie.cumin@umontreal.ca

Project description

In our collective imagination, autism remains a predominantly male condition. This may seem compatible with the fact that 4x more boys than girls are diagnosed with autism. However, recent hypotheses suggest that this gap exists in part because autism in girls manifests differently, and/or because clinicians are less able to detect it. In fact, girls and women with autism are at higher risk of being misdiagnosed with conditions such as social anxiety or personality disorders. This project will therefore attempt to determine how expert clinicians differentiate autism from psychiatric conditions in women, such as Borderline Personality Disorder. Psychiatrists and psychologists will be asked about the specific traits and behaviors they look for in women to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of autism, as well as the tools they use. These results will provide guidance for less experienced clinicians to conduct assessment of complex cases.

Research team

  
Student InvestigatorJulie Cumin, BAUniversité de Montréal
SupervisorLaurent Mottron, M.D., Ph. D.
Collaborators
Suzanne Renaud, M.D.
Alexis Beauchamp-Chatel, M.Sc., M.D.
Insitut universitaire en santé mentale Douglas
Université de Montréal

Funding Organisations

Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS)

Transforming Autism Care Consortiu (TACC)