‘Who Am I?’: An Exploratory Study of the Relationships Between Identity, Acculturation and Mental Health in Autistic Adolescents

Abstract

Autistic adolescents are at increased risk of mental health difficulties. One potential factor contributing to this is identity development, although this hypothesis has been little explored. These adolescents also have to consider how autism forms their identity, a process called acculturation. This exploratory study examined the relationships between identity, acculturation and mental health in autistic adolescents. Twenty-four participants completed measures investigating identity, acculturation and mental health. Findings suggested mental health was not related to personal identity. Mental health scores did not differ between acculturation groups, however those aligned to non-autistic culture tended to generate more positive self-statements than those aligned to neither culture. These findings suggest autistic adolescents should be encouraged to explore autistic culture and supported in constructing their identity.

“I’m Proud to be a Little Bit Different”: The Effects of Autistic Individuals’ Perceptions of Autism and Autism Social Identity on Their Collective Self-esteem

“…This supports findings from a recent study evaluating an autistic-led support programme for autistic adults, which found that in exploring their experiences as autistic individuals, participants developed a sense of unity in their diverse experiences of autism (Crane et al 2020 ). Cresswell and Cage ( 2019 ) found that autistic participants who were more aligned with non-autistic culture generated more positive self-statements, which conflicts with our finding that autistic people who generated more positive autism attributes also had more positive collective self-esteem and stronger autism social identity. These discrepancies are likely due to the different constructs measured, with Cresswell and Cage’s study focussing on general self-statements and not autism related traits.…”

“…Indeed, the extent to which an autistic person accepts their autism identity, and feels society accepts their autism, has been found to be negatively associated with depression scores in autistic adults (Cage et al 2018 ). However, a study with 24 autistic adolescents found that autistic individuals who aligned themselves to non-autistic culture generated more positive self-statements than those who did not align themselves with either autistic or non-autistic culture (Cresswell and Cage 2019 ). Mixed findings about how positively autism identity is perceived are prevalent in qualitative research in the field, with some participants emphasising strengths, others emphasizing challenges and many with a balanced perspective (Macleod et al 2013 ; Mogensen and Mason 2015 ; Cage et al 2016 ).…”

Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?

“…Similarly, autistic adults who camouflage more report feeling a reduced sense of belonging, and higher levels of suicidality [21]. Individuals who camouflage more may have lower self-esteem and fewer close relationships, both of which are associated with poor mental health outcomes [56,57]. Negative outcomes of camouflaging have been previously reported by autistic adults of multiple genders [34,53].…”

<p>Is Autism Inborn And Lifelong For Everyone?</p>

“…56 Such information will also have sociological effects too. The increasingly vocal voices from the autism spectrum discussing autism as an identity 57 over and above just a clinical diagnosis will no doubt be affected by discussions about autism not being innate and/or life-long for everyone.…”