Social self-efficacy and mental well-being in autistic adults: Exploring the role of social identity.
Lorna Camus, Gnanathusharan Rajendran, Mary Elizabeth Stewart
PMID 37728250WHAT IT FOUND
In 512 autistic adults, confidence socialising with groups they felt they belonged to was higher than with other groups and related to better mental well-being.
The number of social identities did not explain this link.
Key findings
01Participants reported higher confidence socialising with groups they identified with than with groups they did not identify with.
02Higher in-group confidence was associated with higher mental well-being after age was controlled.
03The number of social identities did not explain the association between social self-efficacy and mental well-being for either in-group or out-group confidence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study measured everything at one time, so it cannot show whether social confidence affects well-being, well-being affects confidence, or other factors cause both. It used an abbreviated social identity measure, and the number or type of social identities did not explain the relationship. Participants were mostly White, and too few identified as non-binary, transgender or otherwise genderfluid to compare with cisgender male and female participants. The study did not assess how important each group was to participants or the quality of interactions, which may affect identification and well-being. The child sample was too small to analyse and was excluded.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was funded by Heriot-Watt University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that increasing the number of social groups an autistic person belongs to will improve mental well-being. The study measured associations at one time point, and the number of social identities did not explain the link between social confidence and well-being.