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 camoufl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Molecular Autism |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-021-00421-1 |
| _version_ | 1818325654236561408 |
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| author | Laura Hull Lily Levy Meng-Chuan Lai K. V. Petrides Simon Baron-Cohen Carrie Allison Paula Smith Will Mandy |
| author_facet | Laura Hull Lily Levy Meng-Chuan Lai K. V. Petrides Simon Baron-Cohen Carrie Allison Paula Smith Will Mandy |
| author_sort | Laura Hull |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T11:47:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e18f454ec74a4552a128e4c963d579d1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2040-2392 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T11:47:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecular Autism |
| spelling | doaj.art-e18f454ec74a4552a128e4c963d579d12022-12-21T23:47:28ZengBMCMolecular Autism2040-23922021-02-0112111310.1186/s13229-021-00421-1Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?Laura Hull0Lily Levy1Meng-Chuan Lai2K. V. Petrides3Simon Baron-Cohen4Carrie Allison5Paula Smith6Will Mandy7Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College LondonResearch Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College LondonCentre for Addiction and Mental Health and The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Psychiatry, University of TorontoLondon Psychometrics Laboratory, University College LondonAutism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of CambridgeAutism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of CambridgeAutism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of CambridgeResearch Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College LondonAbstract 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.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-021-00421-1Mental healthCamouflagingGenderAdults |
| spellingShingle | Laura Hull Lily Levy Meng-Chuan Lai K. V. Petrides Simon Baron-Cohen Carrie Allison Paula Smith Will Mandy Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults? Molecular Autism Mental health Camouflaging Gender Adults |
| title | Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults? |
| title_full | Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults? |
| title_fullStr | Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults? |
| title_short | Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults? |
| title_sort | is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults |
| topic | Mental health Camouflaging Gender Adults |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-021-00421-1 |
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