Experiences of Autism Acceptance and Mental Health in Autistic Adults

Abstract

Mental health difficulties are highly prevalent in individuals on the autism spectrum. The current study examined how experiences and perceptions of autism acceptance could impact on the mental health of autistic adults. 111 adults on the autism spectrum completed an online survey examining their experiences of autism acceptance, along with symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Regression analyses showed that autism acceptance from external sources and personal acceptance significantly predicted depression. Acceptance from others also significantly predicted stress but acceptance did not predict anxiety. Further analyses suggested that experiences of “camouflaging” could relate to higher rates of depression. The current study highlights the importance of considering how autism acceptance could contribute to mental health in autism.

Gender Differences in the First Impressions of Autistic Adults

“…Although autistic females were rated more favourably than autistic males across most traits, they were rated less favourably than non-autistic females and non-autistic males across numerous traits. Whilst prior research has reported no gender differences in camouflaging behaviour (Cage et al, 2018;, Lai et al (2016) argue that autistic females may camouflage with greater success than autistic males. However, the current findings do not necessarily support this hypothesis.…”

“…Autistic individuals often experience bullying, victimisation (Cappadocia, Weiss & Pepler, 2012) and stigmatisation (Shtayermman, 2009). The reduced intent to pursue social interaction with autistic adults could contribute to these experiences (Jones, Pickles, & Lord, 2017;Matthews, Ly, & Goldberg, 2015) and may affect psychological wellbeing due to a perceived lack of autism acceptance (Cage et al, 2018). The negative rating of autistic people provides support for the 'double empathy problem' (Milton, 2012) which argues that non-autistic individuals lack empathy into the lives of autistic people, and a breakdown of reciprocity in social interactions between autistic and non-autistic individuals is observed (Milton & Bracher, 2013).…”

“…These strategies can involve mimicking behaviour, conversation style and mannerisms of non-autistic peers (Lai et al, 2011). Some studies find camouflaging is more prevalent in females (Lai et al, 2011;, while others report no gender differences in camouflaging (Cage et al, 2018; or that gender differences in camouflaging are driven by societal expectations of autistic women (Cage & Troxell-Whitman, 2019). One might hypothesise that camouflaging could have an impact on first impressions (Sasson et al, 2017); if camouflaging is more prevalent in autistic females, this may be reflected in more favourable first impressions.…”

The Female Autism Phenotype and Camouflaging: a Narrative Review

“…This discrepancy was also associated with greater activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to self-representation in females only . A similar result was found by Ratto Lai et al 2017 Discrepancy between self-reported autistic traits/performance on mentalising task (internal) and ADOS score (external) Lai et al 2019 Discrepancy between self-reported autistic traits/performance on mentalising task (internal) and ADOS score (external) Livingston et al 2019 Discrepancy between performance on a theory of mind task (internal) and ADOS score (external) Parish- Morris et al 2017 Discrepancy between parent-reported autistic traits (internal) and use of typical language techniques (external) Ratto et al 2018 Discrepancy between parent-reported autistic traits/adaptive behaviour (internal), and ADOS or ADOS-2 and ADI-R score (external) Rynkiewicz et al 2016 Discrepancy between self/parent-reported autistic traits (internal) and use of gesture in ADOS-2 (external) Observational/ Reflective Conceptualises camouflaging as the specific behaviours and processes (whether conscious or implicit) leading to variation in the behavioural presentation of autism Studies using this approach Operationalisation of camouflaging Cage et al 2018 Self-reported camouflaging (yes/no) Cage and Troxell-Whitman 2019 Score on self-report measure of camouflaging behaviours (CAT-Q). Cassidy et al 2018 Score on four self-report questions of camouflaging Dean et al 2017 Observed social behaviours in the playground Hull et al 2017a Self-reported behavioural examples Hull et al 2018 Score on self-report measure of camouflaging behaviours (CAT-Q).…”

Measurement of Subcategories of Repetitive Behaviors in Autistic Adolescents and Adults

“…Discrepancies between self-report and caregiver report could provide important insights into individual experiences and may even serve as a red flag for concerns considering the possible relationship between features of depression and camouflaging. 48 Previous studies have also demonstrated a relationship between depressive features and self-reported IS behaviors on the RBS-R, 49 further highlighting the significance of assessing RRBs using self-report.…”