Looking Good but Feeling Bad: "Camouflaging" Behaviors and Mental Health in Women with Autistic Traits

Autor/inn/en	Beck, Jonathan S.; Lundwall, Rebecca A.; Gabrielsen, Terisa; Cox, Jonathan C.; South, Mikle
Titel	Looking Good but Feeling Bad: "Camouflaging" Behaviors and Mental Health in Women with Autistic Traits
Quelle	In: Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 24 (2020) 4, S.809-821 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Beck, Jonathan S.) ORCID (South, Mikle)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1362-3613
DOI	10.1177/1362361320912147
Schlagwörter	Autism; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Emotional Disturbances; Suicide; Correlation; Females; Social Behavior; Coping; Mental Health; Daily Living Skills; Access to Health Care; Interpersonal Competence; Scores; Questionnaires; Prediction; Screening Tests; Participant Characteristics; Diagnostic Tests; Observation; Intelligence Tests; Personality Problems; Behavior Disorders; Adults; Depression (Psychology); Anxiety Disorders; Social Responsiveness Scale; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Autismus; Gefühlsstörung; Selbstmord; Korrelation; Weibliches Geschlecht; Social behaviour; Soziales Verhalten; Bewältigung; Psychohygiene; Alltagsfertigkeit; Interpersonale Kompetenz; Fragebogen; Vorhersage; Screening-Verfahren; Diagnostic test; Diagnostischer Test; Beobachtung; Intelligence test; Intelligenztest
Abstract	Autistic traits are associated with frequent psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and everyday functional challenges. These associations may be especially prominent in women. Some women with autistic traits "camouflage" feelings of awkwardness in typical social situations by effortfully engaging in expected social behaviors. We explored camouflaging because emerging evidence posits an association between camouflaging behaviors and poorer outcomes related to mental health, daily functioning, and access to mental health care. We recruited a sample of 58 women (age M=25 years; IQ M=115) who reported that they find social situations confusing and who scored high on a measure of broad autistic traits ("Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire" score>3). The majority of participants reported significant levels of psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and daily functioning difficulties. Regression models showed that camouflaging efforts ("Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire") and autistic traits ("Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition") modestly but significantly predicted psychological distress and functional challenges, respectively. In a subgroup of participants with high "Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire" scores, camouflaging scores were significantly associated with psychological distress and functional challenges. Camouflaging may help predict when clinicians should be concerned about higher mental health distress in autistic women and may be beneficial to measure as part of a comprehensive, multimethod assessment of mental health in women who report difficulties fitting into social situations. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01