Autistic children have been shown to have less complete definitions of friendships and higher levels of loneliness than their non-autistic peers. However, no known studies have explored sex differences in autistic children’s understanding of friendships and reported loneliness across development. Autistic girls demonstrate higher levels of social motivation than autistic boys and appear to “fit in” with their peers, but they often have difficulty recognizing reciprocal friendships during middle childhood. As autistic girls develop a more complex understanding of friendship during adolescence, they may begin to redefine their friendships and experience heightened loneliness. Here, we explored how autistic and non-autistic boys and girls define the meaning of friendship and report feelings of loneliness across development. We also examined their perceptions of friendships and loneliness. This mixed-methods study analyzed the transcribed clinical evaluations of 58 autistic children (29 girls) matched to 42 non-autistic children (21 girls) on age and IQ. Transcripts were coded for four categories that children used to define friendships—personality, companionship, dependability, and intimacy—and for reported loneliness. We then compared these codes across diagnosis, sex, and age. Content analyses were further implemented to gain a more holistic understanding of children’s perceptions of friendships and loneliness. Girls, regardless of diagnosis, were more likely than boys to refer to personality when defining the meaning of friendship, and the likelihood of referring to dependability and intimacy increased with age. Most children reported having at least one friend, though some autistic adolescents reported not having friends or were uncertain whether they had friends. While autistic and non-autistic boys and girls were equally likely to report feeling lonely at times, several autistic girls and boys reported being frequently lonely. This study was a secondary data analysis. The standardized set of questions on the ADOS limited the amount of information that children provided about their friendships and perceptions of loneliness. As with non-autistic children, autistic children acquire a more complex understanding of friendship throughout development. However, as children begin to prioritize dependability and intimacy in friendships, autistic adolescents may have difficulty developing friendships characterized by these constructs. Furthermore, the quantity and/or quality of autistic children’s friendships may not be sufficient to alleviate loneliness.

中文翻译：

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自闭症和非自闭症儿童在友谊和孤独感方面的性别差异

与非自闭症同龄人相比，自闭症儿童对友谊的定义不那么完整，而且孤独感更高。然而，没有已知的研究探讨自闭症儿童对友谊的理解的性别差异，并报告了整个发展过程中的孤独感。自闭症女孩比自闭症男孩表现出更高水平的社会动机，并且似乎与同龄人“融为一体”，但她们在童年中期往往难以识别相互的友谊。随着自闭症女孩在青春期对友谊的理解更加复杂，她们可能会开始重新定义她们的友谊，并体验到更高的孤独感。在这里，我们探讨了自闭症和非自闭症男孩和女孩如何定义友谊的意义，并报告在整个发展过程中的孤独感。我们还研究了他们对友谊和孤独的看法。这项混合方法研究分析了 58 名自闭症儿童（29 名女孩）与 42 名非自闭症儿童（21 名女孩）在年龄和智商方面匹配的转录临床评估。成绩单被编码为孩子们用来定义友谊的四个类别——个性、友谊、可靠性和亲密——以及报告的孤独感。然后，我们比较了这些代码在诊断、性别和年龄方面的差异。进一步实施内容分析，以更全面地了解儿童对友谊和孤独的看法。无论诊断如何，在定义友谊的含义时，女孩比男孩更可能参考个性，并且参考可靠性和亲密关系的可能性随着年龄的增长而增加。大多数孩子报告至少有一个朋友，尽管一些自闭症青少年报告说他们没有朋友，或者不确定他们是否有朋友。虽然自闭症和非自闭症男孩和女孩同样可能报告有时感到孤独，但一些自闭症女孩和男孩报告说经常感到孤独。本研究为二次数据分析。ADOS 上的标准化问题集限制了孩子们提供的关于他们的友谊和孤独感的信息量。与非自闭症儿童一样，自闭症儿童在整个发展过程中对友谊有了更复杂的理解。然而，随着儿童开始优先考虑友谊中的可靠性和亲密感，自闭症青少年可能难以发展以这些结构为特征的友谊。此外，