TV Series in Mainstream Media Depicting Autism and Self-Diagnosis of Autism in a General Population of Young Adults.
Gloria Mittmann, Beate Schrank, Verena Steiner-Hofbauer
PMID 37847319WHAT IT FOUND
Watching more TV shows with autistic characters was linked to higher autism self-diagnosis in young adults.
However, these self-diagnoses did not match objective emotion recognition scores, suggesting the link reflects subjective perception rather than clinical signs.
Key findings
01Media consumption significantly predicted autism self-diagnosis, but no other variables did.
02There was no significant correlation between autism self-diagnosis and objective emotion recognition task scores.
03The effect of media consumption on self-diagnosis was small and not influenced by how much participants liked the show or character.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a single question to measure self-diagnosis, which may not capture the complexity of autism. The sample was predominantly Austrian and general population, with only two participants having an official autism diagnosis. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that watching TV causes self-diagnosis. The effect size was small, and the model explained very little variance in self-diagnosis. Autistic people were not included in the design of the study.
Declared interests
Funded by Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften. No other conflicts declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the link between TV watching and self-diagnosis as evidence that media causes autism or that self-diagnosed individuals have objective autism traits. The study found no correlation between self-diagnosis and objective emotion recognition scores, and the effect was small.