Exploring the association between social camouflaging and self- versus caregiver-report discrepancies in anxiety and depressive symptoms in autistic and non-autistic socially anxious adolescents.

The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether camouflaging leads to anxiety or depression, or whether anxiety or depression leads to more camouflaging. The sample was modest, so it had limited power to detect interactions between diagnostic group and rater. Participants were recruited from mental health services and selected for high social anxiety, so results may not apply to autistic or non-autistic adolescents in the general population. The non-autism group had high autistic traits and did not receive a formal autism assessment, so diagnostic group membership may not separate the groups cleanly. Camouflaging was measured only by adolescent self-report, and the camouflaging items may overlap with social anxiety items, which could inflate associations. The sample was mostly White, so the findings may not generalise across ethnic, racial or cultural backgrounds. Caregiver and adolescent ratings were analysed mainly with raw scores; the paper notes that T-scores above clinical cut-offs showed a different pattern.

One author has served as a paid consultant to F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Servier, and has received royalties from Sage Publications and Guildford Publications. Another author has received royalties from Jessica Kingsley (Hachette) Publications. The other authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by a research stipend awarded to J.L. as part of the Doctorate for Clinical Psychology degree at King's College London.

Do not conclude that camouflaging causes anxiety or depression, or that closer agreement between adolescent and caregiver reports is linked to less camouflaging. The study is cross-sectional, and the analysis did not support that agreement was linked to camouflaging.