Intersections of Autism and Sexual and Gender Diversity Among Young People in New Zealand

Abstract

International research suggests there is a common intersection between Autism and sexual and gender diversity. However, there is limited data estimating the whole-of-population prevalence of this association, both abroad and in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Utilising NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure, a research database containing linked administrative and survey data, we conducted a nationwide cohort study of those in the age range 5–24 years for whom Census 2023 records existed. From a study population of 1,266,453 young people, 1.5% were identified as Autistic. After adjustment for demographic measures, we found significantly higher rates of Autism among sexually- and gender-diverse young people than among their heterosexual and cisgender peers. This included for those identifying with a gender outside of the male/female binary (3.9%) compared to both males (2.3%; 1.7 times as high) and females (0.7%; 5.8 times as high), transgender people (4.0%) compared to cisgender people (1.5%; 2.9 times as high), and non-heterosexuals (2.2%) compared to heterosexuals (1.4%; 1.8 times as high).

Lay Abstract

International research suggests there is a common overlap between Autism and sexual and gender diversity (such as people who are gay, lesbian, transgender, etc). However, there is little data about this association on a whole-of-population scale. We conducted a nationwide study of young people aged 5–24 years to explore this crossover. From a study population of 1,266,453 young people, 1.5% were identified as Autistic. Looking at sexual- and gender-diversity data, we found there were significantly higher proportion of people who were Autistic among sexually and gender-diverse young people compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers.