About me
I am a licensed psychologist and currently work as a postdoc at the Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND). My main research interests are sex/gender differences in autism and autism manifestation in girls/women. Research shows that girls with autism are diagnosed later in life compared to boys, which means that support, adaptations and tolerance from the environment are also delayed. Recently published studies also suggest that delayed diagnosis can increase the risk of mental health problems. In addition, we know that the risk of suicidal behaviors is elevated among autistic people, and this risk appear to be particularly increased in autistic women.
These research findings indicate the need for more knowledge regarding how autism and the experience of being autistic may differ for girls/women and boys/men, and whether risk factors for mental illness and other negative outcomes are different for autistic women and men.
My PhD project includes several studies: in a qualitative study, we have explored professionals' perspectives on and experiences of gender differences in autism. The study is published in the journal Autism and can be found here. In another study, we investigate the relationship between autism and eating problems (such as selective eating, sensory sensitivity and inflexible routines at meals), and whether this relationship looks different for girls/women and boys/men. This study is part of the twin project entitled the Roots of Autism and ADHD Twin Study in Sweden (RATSS), and is published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The article can be read in its entirety here.
Camouflaging
Another research interest of mine is camouflaging, that is, strategies to mask or compensate for autistic traits in social situations. In a recently published study, we translated the self-assessment Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) into Swedish and evaluated it in Swedish settings with the help of a sample of autistic and non-autistic participants. The study is published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and can be read here. We are currently following up the findings in this study, looking into the link between camouflaging and quality of life using a co-twin control design in the RATSS sample.
Publications (a selection)
- Lundin, K., Mahdi, S., Isaksson, J., & Bölte, S. (2021). Functional gender differences in autism: An international, multidisciplinary expert survey using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health model. Autism, 25(4), 1020–1035. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320975311
- Lundin Remnélius, K., & Bölte, S. (2023). Camouflaging in Autism: Age Effects and Cross-Cultural Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-05909-8
- Lundin Remnélius, K., Neufeld, J., Isaksson, J., & Bölte, S. (2021). Eating Problems in Autistic Females and Males: A Co-twin Control Study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05198-z
- Lundin Remnélius, K. (2023). Female autism phenotypes: sex/gender differences in functioning, camouflaging, and eating problems. Inst för kvinnors och barns hälsa/Dept of Women's and Children's Health. KI open acrchive
- Myers, L., Pan, P.-Y., Lundin Remnélius, K., Neufeld, J., Marschik, P. B., Jonsson, U., & Bölte, S. (2021). Behavioral and biological divergence in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for autism phenotypes: A systematic review. JCPP Advances, 1(2), e12017. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcv2.12017
- Isaksson, J., Taylor, M., Lundin, K., Neufeld, J., & Bölte, S. (2019). Familial confounding on the ability to read minds: A co-twin control study. Autism : The International Journal of Research and Practice, 23(8), 1948–1956. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361319836380
- Neufeld, J., Taylor, M., Lundin Remnélius, K., Isaksson, J., Lichtenstein, P., & Bölte, S. (2021). A co-twin-control study of altered sensory processing in autism. Autism : The International Journal of Research and Practice, 1362361321991255. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361321991255