Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Autistic Masking, Joshua Evans, Thalia Markowski, Steven V. Rouse Dr., Elizabeth J. Krumrei-Mancuso Dr.

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This study investigated the relationships between autistic masking and depression, anxiety, gender identity, sexual orientation, social trauma, self-esteem, authenticity, and autistic community involvement. Participants were autistic adults (n=342) recruited through autistic social media groups. The majority of participants (63%) reported being members of sexual minorities. The study found higher self-reported autistic masking behaviors were associated with higher reports of past social trauma (p < .001, b = .26), greater anxiety (p < .001, b = .37) and depression symptoms (p < .001, b = .312), lower self-esteem (p < .001, b = -.25), lower authentic living (p = .005, b = -.16), greater accepting of external influence (p < .001, b= .33), higher self-alienation (p < .001, b = .26), and lower participation within the autistic community (p < .001, b = -.19). Autistic masking was not found to be associated with gender identity or sexual orientation. Participants who reported involvement in previous ABA therapy reported higher past social trauma than participants involved in some other forms of therapy such as cognitive behavior therapy.