We investigated Autism social identity and mental health in autistic people. Autistic people have social and communication deficits, and experience social stigma—factors that could interfere with the development of positive social identity. Indeed, autistic participants (N = 272) had significantly lower personal self‐esteem, and higher levels of depression and anxiety than typically developing controls (N = 267). Autism social identification was positively associated with personal self‐esteem, and this relationship was mediated by collective self‐esteem (perceived positivity of Autism identity). Furthermore, there were significant negative indirect effects between Autism identification and anxiety, and between Autism identification and depression, through increases in collective self‐esteem and personal self‐esteem. Thus, while autistic participants reported poorer mental health than average, having a positive Autism social identity appeared to offer a protective mechanism. This implies that to improve mental health in the Autism population, clinical approaches should aim to facilitate development of positive Autism identities.

Obsessions and compulsions are both common in adults with high-functioning ASD and are associated with significant levels of distress.

Background: High rates of anxiety disorders, particularly Obsessive

There is some consensus in the literature regarding the cognitive profile of people with Asperger syndrome (AS). Findings to date suggest that a proportion of people with AS have higher verbal than performance IQ, a non-verbal learning disability (NVLD) and impairments in some aspects of executive function (EF). However, there are few published studies on adults with AS and many have compared the AS group to an autistic control group alone. We compared cognitive functioning in 27 AS adults without a history of language delay and 20 normal controls who did not differ significantly in age, gender and IQ. People with AS had significant impairments on a test of visual memory and on EF tasks measuring flexibility and generativity, but not inhibition. There was no significant difference between verbal and performance IQ. Our results suggest that impairments on tests requiring flexibility of thought and generation occur at all ages and across a range of autistic disorders including AS.