ArticleMolecular autism2021
Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?
Article in Molecular autism, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 139 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
139 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Autistic Traits and Camouflaging: A Meta-Analysis.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026Pooled it
- The relationship between autistic camouflaging and mental health: a scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Enhancing emergency department care for individuals with autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan: a systematic review.Frontiers in health services · 2026Pooled it
- Is There a Bias Towards Males in the Diagnosis of Autism? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2025Pooled it
- Understanding Mechanisms that Maintain Social Anxiety Disorder in Autistic Individuals Through the Clark and Wells (1995) Model and Beyond: A Systematic Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Emotion dysregulation is heightened in autistic females: A comparison with autistic males and borderline personality disorder.Women's health (London, England)Trial
- Examining the association between autistic traits and psychopathology in the general population: are there sex differences?European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- [From clinical high risk for psychosis to autism spectrum disorder: navigating the challenges of differential diagnosis-A case report].Neuropsychiatrie : Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation : Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater · 2026Article
- Preservation of Higher-Order Cognition in Autistic Females: Evidence from Two Deeply-Phenotyped Cohorts in Hong Kong and the United States.Research square · 2026Article
- "I Try to Act Like a Neurotypical so it Makes Customers More Comfortable": A Mixed Methods Analysis of Autistic Camouflaging at Work.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- A Cross-Neurotype Analysis of Camouflaging and Illness Perceptions in People with Central Sensitivity Syndromes.Autism in adulthood · 2026Article
- Are we Missing Character in Strengths-Based Approaches to Coaching and Therapy for Autistic People?Autism in adulthood · 2026Article
- Camouflage, Burnout-Exhaustion, and Depression in Autistic Adults.Autism in adulthood · 2026Article
- Autistic traits and social anxiety in children and adolescents: the mediating role of theory of mind and social adaptive behavior.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- "Tell Me What My Job Is": A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of Autistic Academic Staff Working in Higher Education in Ireland.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026Article
- "I Feel Like They Were Made in a Very Neurotypical World": Autistic Adult Experiences and Perceptions of Social Rules, Instruction, and Laws.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- The Experiences of Autistic Healthcare Students in a Clinical Learning Environment: A Scoping Review.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026Article
- Camouflaging and autism: Conceptualisation and methodological issues.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026Review
- A novel context-discrepancy assessment of impression management facets in autistic and non-autistic adults: an initial validation.Molecular autism · 2026Article
- Does Camouflaging Predict Functioning, Distress, and Quality of Life for Autistic Adults?Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
79 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is inconsistent evidence for a clear pattern of association between 'camouflaging' (strategies used to mask and/or compensate for autism characteristics during social interactions) and mental health.
methodsThis study explored the relationship between self-reported camouflaging and generalised anxiety, depression, and social anxiety in a large sample of autistic adults and, for the first time, explored the moderating effect of gender, in an online survey.
resultsOverall, camouflaging was associated with greater symptoms of generalised anxiety, depression, and social anxiety, although only to a small extent beyond the contribution of autistic traits and age. Camouflaging more strongly predicted generalised and social anxiety than depression. No interaction between camouflaging and gender was found. LIMITATIONS: These results cannot be generalised to autistic people with intellectual disability, or autistic children and young people. The sample did not include sufficient numbers of non-binary people to run separate analyses; therefore, it is possible that camouflaging impacts mental health differently in this population.
conclusionsThe findings suggest that camouflaging is a risk factor for mental health problems in autistic adults without intellectual disability, regardless of gender. We also identified levels of camouflaging at which risk of mental health problems is highest, suggesting clinicians should be particularly aware of mental health problems in those who score at or above these levels.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.