Is Camouflaging Autistic Traits Associated with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviours? Expanding the Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide in an Undergraduate Student Sample.
S A Cassidy, K Gould, E Townsend and 3 others
PMID 31820344WHAT IT FOUND
Higher autistic traits and camouflaging were linked to lifetime suicidal thoughts or behaviours in 160 undergraduates.
Assimilation, pretending to fit in, was most tied to feeling of not belonging; the total camouflaging score did not add after other factors. This does not prove cause.
Key findings
01Among 160 undergraduate psychology students, autistic traits, camouflaging, depression, anxiety, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness were significantly correlated with lifetime suicidal behaviour.
02The assimilation part of camouflaging was more strongly linked to thwarted belongingness than to perceived burdensomeness.
03In mediation models, autistic traits were linked to lifetime suicidal behaviour through camouflaging and thwarted belongingness, and through assimilation and thwarted belongingness.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional online survey, so it shows associations, not that camouflaging caused suicidal thoughts or behaviours. The sample was 160 undergraduate psychology students, mostly female, and not a diagnosed autistic sample; only 6.3% scored at or above the autism screening cut-off. Lifetime suicidal behaviour was assessed with a single item from the Suicide Behaviours Questionnaire-revised, not the full questionnaire. All measures were self-report, and socio-economic status was not controlled. The total camouflaging score did not significantly predict thwarted belongingness after controls, so the finding is strongest for assimilation, not camouflaging overall.
Declared interests
The supplied text reports funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and Autistica.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that camouflaging autistic traits causes suicide risk. The study measured people at one time and used undergraduate students, so it shows links only.