How I See and Feel About Myself: Domain-Specific Self-Concept and Self-Esteem in Autistic Adults

Abstract

Few studies have examined the self-perceptions of autistic adults. This study aimed firstly to investigate domain-specific self-concepts and global self-esteem in autistic adults. The second aim was to examine associations between autism self-appraisals, perceived social support and global self-concept and self-esteem. The third was to determine which domains of self-concept were most closely associated with selfesteem. Participants included 71 autistic adults aged 18-70 years and 65 age, sex and education matched typically developing individuals. Participants completed an online survey of autism characteristics, global self-esteem and domain-specific self-concepts (i.e. likeability, task accomplishment, power, giftedness, invulnerability, and morality), self-appraisals about autism, and perceived social support. Autistic participants reported significantly lower power and global self-esteem than typically developing individuals after controlling for autism characteristics. More positive self-appraisals about autism (i.e. greater perceived benefits and lower helplessness) were significantly related to better global self-concept and self-esteem. Global self-esteem was significantly and positively associated with perceptions of giftedness, emotional resilience and power. These findings suggest that autistic adults may perceive themselves as having a low sense of power in their relationships and have negative global perceptions of their self-worth. However, those able to find positive meaning or benefits associated with autism are likely to have more positive global self-perceptions. This study provides new insights into how autistic adults perceive themselves which may guide the focus of psychosocial interventions that seek to recognize and promote unique talents and emotional resilience.

Personal Identity After an Autism Diagnosis: Relationships With Self-Esteem, Mental Wellbeing, and Diagnostic Timing

“…Self-esteem is an evaluative attitude toward the self, indicating self-worth (Luhtanen and Crocker, 1992), and is associated with concepts such as optimism and self-confidence (Rosenberg et al, 1995;Lyubomirsky et al, 2005). Studies have noted both lower mental wellbeing and self-esteem in autistic adults compared to the non-autistic population (Nguyen et al, 2020;Maitland et al, 2021). However, positive relationships have been observed between self-esteem and social identity in non-autistic samples (Greenaway et al, 2015;Jetten et al, 2015).…”

“The Languages That You Know Draw the Boundary of Your World”: A Thematic Analysis of the Experiences of Autistic Bilingual Adults Living in the United Kingdom

“…37 Crucially, the social connections enabled by their knowledge of multiple languages and their drive also included connections with their autistic peers from around the world, 21 in turn informing their identitybuilding as autistic. Outside of the social domain, and similarly to the accounts of the multilingual autistic respondents from Nolte et al (2021) 21 , participants expressed benefits of bilingualism in several other contexts linked with wider issues encountered by autistic people, including confidence in their abilities 38 or employment opportunities. This is particularly relevant as being employed has been linked with a higher quality of life for autistic adults, 37 while unemployment is an ongoing serious issue for the autistic community.…”

Relationship Between Psychological Symptoms and Self-Esteem Levels Before and After Stomach Botox Treatment

“…There are many studies in the literature examining the relationship between body image and self-perception and psychiatric health. The common point of these studies is that obesity and changing body proportions cause significant psychological and psychiatric problems in individuals, which causes loss of self-confidence [17][18][19][20][21][22]. On the other hand, there are few studies on the effect of stomach Botox treatment, which is used effectively in the treatment of obesity.…”