Inner experiences, mental health, and well-being in autistic and non-autistic adults.
Micah O Mazurek, Jessica Pappagianopoulos, Sophie Brunt and 6 others
PMID 39539047WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults reported significantly more frequent self-talk for social assessment, self-criticism, and self-management than non-autistic adults.
This self-talk correlated with higher anxiety and depression. Inner experience patterns were otherwise similar between groups.
Key findings
01Autistic adults scored significantly higher on measures of self-talk for social assessment, self-criticism, and self-management compared to non-autistic adults.
02Self-talk for social assessment and self-criticism was associated with greater anxiety and depression in both autistic and non-autistic adults.
03Experiencing thoughts as feelings predicted higher depression and anxiety scores in both groups, but was not associated with happiness or life satisfaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used a cross-sectional design, so it cannot determine whether self-talk causes anxiety or if anxious individuals engage in more self-talk. Participants had to be able to read and answer written survey questions, excluding autistic adults with significant language or cognitive impairments. The non-autistic group was recruited via crowdsourcing and registry platforms, which may not represent the general population. The study relied entirely on self-report measures for inner experiences, which can be difficult to validate objectively. The sample was predominantly White and cisgender women, limiting generalizability to other demographic groups.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that the higher frequency of self-talk in autistic adults is inherently negative or a deficit. The study found it is associated with anxiety and depression, but the cross-sectional design cannot prove causation. It may be a coping mechanism used in response to social difficulties, rather than the cause of the distress.