«For autistic adults, hiding or suppressing traits to fit in with social expectations is often linked to higher rates of depression and distress. A recent study published in Autism Research reveals that these negative mental health outcomes may actually be driven by underlying social anxiety and social challenges, rather than the act of camouflaging itself. The findings suggest that current psychological questionnaires might be measuring overlapping concepts, pointing to a need for more precise tools to understand autistic well-being.»
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« The findings held true even when the researchers broke down camouflaging into its specific components. None of the individual strategies, compensation, masking, or assimilation, independently predicted negative mental health outcomes beyond the effects of social anxiety and social impairments. »...