Social identities and mental well-being in autistic adults.
Cameron A Maitland, Sinead Rhodes, Anne O'Hare and 1 others
PMID 34011188WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults who feel a stronger sense of belonging to their autistic identity, their family, or multiple social groups report lower depression and higher positive mental health.
However, autistic traits were a much stronger predictor of well-being than social identity, and having fewer groups was common.
Key findings
01Stronger social identification with other autistic people and having a higher number of social identities were associated with lower depression and higher positive mental health.
02Autistic traits were the strongest predictor of mental well-being across all models, explaining more variance than social identity measures.
03Approximately one-quarter of participants did not socially identify with any group, a rate substantially higher than in general population samples.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if social identity causes better mental health or if better mental health allows people to form more identities. The sample was predominantly female, highly educated, and employed, which may not represent all autistic adults. Participants needed to independently use the internet and complete online surveys, excluding those with intellectual disabilities or conditions affecting this ability. The standard measures of depression and anxiety were not specifically tailored for autistic people, which may affect accuracy. The statistical model for family social identification did not fit the data well, making findings about family identity less certain.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The PhD programme of one author (C.A.M.) was funded by the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that increasing social group membership will significantly improve mental health for autistic adults. The association between social identity and well-being was small, and autistic traits were a much stronger predictor of depression and anxiety. Additionally, the lack of association with anxiety in this study contrasts with some previous research, possibly due to the use of a state anxiety measure rather than a trait measure.