Dataset Information

Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is inconsistent evidence for a clear pattern of association between 'camouflaging' (strategies used to mask and/or compensate for autism characteristics during social interactions) and mental health.

Methods

This study explored the relationship between self-reported camouflaging and generalised anxiety, depression, and social anxiety in a large sample of autistic adults and, for the first time, explored the moderating effect of gender, in an online survey.

Results

Overall, camouflaging was associated with greater symptoms of generalised anxiety, depression, and social anxiety, although only to a small extent beyond the contribution of autistic traits and age. Camouflaging more strongly predicted generalised and social anxiety than depression. No interaction between camouflaging and gender was found.

Limitations

These results cannot be generalised to autistic people with intellectual disability, or autistic children and young people. The sample did not include sufficient numbers of non-binary people to run separate analyses; therefore, it is possible that camouflaging impacts mental health differently in this population.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that camouflaging is a risk factor for mental health problems in autistic adults without intellectual disability, regardless of gender. We also identified levels of camouflaging at which risk of mental health problems is highest, suggesting clinicians should be particularly aware of mental health problems in those who score at or above these levels.

SUBMITTER: Hull L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7885456 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?

Hull Laura L Levy Lily L Lai Meng-Chuan MC Petrides K V KV Baron-Cohen Simon S Allison Carrie C Smith Paula P Mandy Will W

Molecular autism 20210216 1

<h4>Background</h4>There is inconsistent evidence for a clear pattern of association between 'camouflaging' (strategies used to mask and/or compensate for autism characteristics during social interactions) and mental health.<h4>Methods</h4>This study explored the relationship between self-reported camouflaging and generalised anxiety, depression, and social anxiety in a large sample of autistic adults and, for the first time, explored the moderating effect of gender, in an online survey.<h4>Resu ...[more]

PMID: 33593423

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Project description:ImportanceSome autistic adults experience depression and anxiety related to their social relationships. There is a need for evidence-based occupational therapy interventions that decrease depression and anxiety and improve the health of social relationships for autistic adults.ObjectiveTo determine the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the Healthy Relationships on the Autism Spectrum (HEARTS) intervention, a six-session, group-based psychoeducational intervention for the improvement of relationship health.DesignOne-group pretest-posttest design with a 3-mo follow-up after baseline.SettingUnited States; online intervention through community organization.ParticipantsFifty-five adults, ages 20 to 43 yr, with a professional or self-diagnosis of autism and the capacity to independently participate in an online, group-based, participatory class.InterventionParticipants received 6 90-min weekly sessions that addressed healthy relationship topics, including recognizing abuse, meeting people, maintaining relationships, setting interpersonal boundaries, neurohealth for relationships, and ending relationships. A psychoeducational approach that provided education and involved guided discovery and strategy acquisition was used.Outcomes and measuresAll measures were self-administered through an online survey. Depression and anxiety were assessed using instruments from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System.ResultsFifty-five participants completed the intervention. Postintervention scores revealed statistically significant improvements in depression and anxiety.Conclusions and relevanceHEARTS is a promising intervention for improving depression and anxiety among autistic adults and should be investigated further. What This Article Adds: HEARTS offers a potentially effective, nonpharmacological, psychoeducational group-based intervention option to promote healthy relationships for autistic adults. Positionality Statement: This article uses identity-first language (autistic person) in accordance with the preference of autistic self-advocates (Autistic Self Advocacy Network, 2020; Kenny et al., 2016; Lord et al., 2022).

Project description:Camouflaging describes masking or compensating for autistic traits and/or related difficulties. Some evidence suggests autistic females camouflage more than autistic males, potentially contributing to delayed or missed diagnosis. Studies predominantly adopt self-report measures of camouflaging, potentially reflecting a person's intent to camouflage without accurately measuring effectiveness (i.e., success in fulfilling the intended effect of minimizing the appearance of autistic traits) of camouflaging. Discrepancy scores between underlying cognitive difficulties (e.g., theory of mind) and observed autistic traits (henceforth camoToM ), or between self-reported autistic traits and observed autistic traits (henceforth camoSRS ), may provide a more accurate measure of camouflaging effectiveness. Three measures of camouflaging administered to autistic males (n = 46) and females (n = 40), and adults with equally high levels of autistic traits but no diagnosis (n = 45 males, n = 43 females) recruited from a large population-based sample were compared. Self-report measures of camouflaging were significantly correlated with camoSRS scores only. Both discrepancy scores were correlated with each other. Adults with high autistic traits, but no diagnosis, had higher discrepancy camouflaging scores than diagnosed adults, but self-reported scores were similar. Diagnosed females scored higher than diagnosed males across all camouflaging measures, but no sex difference occurred in the high trait group. This might indicate that autistic females have higher intentions and greater effectiveness when camouflaging, compared with autistic males. For camoSRS only, high trait males scored significantly higher than diagnosed males; no group difference occurred for females. These results suggest that, despite all participants intending to camouflage to some extent, effective camouflaging as measured by discrepancy scores is higher in undiagnosed high autistic trait individuals. One interpretation is that effective camouflaging reduces the likelihood of autism diagnosis in males and females with high autistic traits.

Dataset Information

Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?

Background

Methods

Results

Limitations

Conclusions

Publications

Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?

Similar Datasets

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