Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39139513›Full record

ArticleAutism in adulthood2024

What You Are Hiding Could Be Hurting You: Autistic Masking in Relation to Mental Health, Interpersonal Trauma, Authenticity, and Self-Esteem.

Joshua A Evans, Elizabeth J Krumrei-Mancuso, Steven V Rouse

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Autism in adulthood, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
43citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

43 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Autistic Traits and Camouflaging: A Meta-Analysis.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Experiencing Independence: Perspectives from Autistic Adults.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Camouflaging and autism: Conceptualisation and methodological issues.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026
    Review
  16. Growing-up autistic: Sharing autistic children's experiences and insights.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Personality disorder diagnoses in UK Autistic people: Evidence from a matched cohort study.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Joshua A EvansDepartment of Psychology, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1845-4532
Elizabeth J Krumrei-MancusoDepartment of Psychology, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6151-7845
Steven V RouseDepartment of Psychology, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1080-5502

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Autistic masking refers to some autistic individuals' tendency to hide, suppress, or camouflage their autistic traits, autistic identity, or autism diagnosis. Autistic masking also may include unconscious or conscious attempts to mimic the behavioral, cognitive, or sensory styles of nonautistic neurotypical people and to suppress natural forms of autistic behavior, cognition, and reactions to sensory experiences. Since autistic people are a stigmatized minority in many neurotypical dominated societies, passing as nonautistic through autistic masking may be an attempt to avoid autism stigma and a reaction to previous interpersonal trauma. Increased autistic masking behaviors are associated with reports of increased depression, anxiety, burnout, and exhaustion in autistic people, and thus, exploring the roots and impact of autistic masking is an important mental health topic. Methods: This study investigated the relationships between autistic masking and depression, anxiety, gender identity, sexual orientation, interpersonal trauma, self-esteem, authenticity, and autistic community involvement. Participants were autistic adults ( Results: This study found that higher self-reported autistic masking behaviors were associated with higher reports of past interpersonal trauma, greater anxiety and depression symptoms, lower self-esteem, lower authenticity, and lower participation within the autistic community. Autistic masking was not associated with gender identity or sexual orientation. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the relationship between autistic masking and past interpersonal trauma, finding that autistic masking behavior is associated with mental health, self-esteem, and authenticity risks for autistic adults. We call into question the teaching of autistic masking strategies in therapies and education programs for autistic people based on the negative associations with autistic masking presented in this study and other research in this field.

Indexed as

camouflaginginterpersonal traumamaskingmental healthself-esteem

Identifiers

PMID39139513
PMCPMC11317797

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.