Low Battery Alarm; A Scoping Review of Autistic Burnout.
Adults with ADHD also camouflage, so screen for masking stress even when autism is not on the chart.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Jahandideh et al. (2025) asked adults with autism, ADHD, and no diagnosis to fill out the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire.
They wanted to know who hides traits and whether autism traits predict masking outside an autism diagnosis.
What they found
Adults with ADHD camouflaged more than neurotypical adults but less than autistic adults.
Autism traits predicted camouflaging in every group, even when the person did not have an autism diagnosis.
How this fits with other research
Gandhi et al. (2022) already showed that autistic women and adults diagnosed late score highest on the same questionnaire.
Arnold et al. (2026) warn that the CAT-Q can be swayed by social anxiety and misses people with intellectual or language disabilities.
Liu et al. (2024) and Bureau et al. (2024) prove the tool works in Taiwanese teens and French adults, so the measure is spreading.
Together the papers say: camouflaging is real across cultures, but interpret scores with care and check for anxiety or ID.
Why it matters
If you serve adults with ADHD, add a quick camouflaging question to your intake. High scores may point to stress, missed autism, or burnout risk. Pair the CAT-Q with an anxiety screener and adjust supports for masking-related fatigue.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Camouflaging (using (un)conscious strategies to appear as non-autistic) is thought to be an important reason for late autism diagnoses and mental health difficulties. However, it is unclear whether only autistic people camouflage or whether people with other neurodevelopmental or mental health conditions also use similar camouflaging strategies. Therefore, in this preregistered study (AsPredicted: #41811) study, we investigated if adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) also camouflage. Adults aged 30-90 years filled in the Dutch Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q-NL), the ADHD Self-Report (ADHD-SR) and the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). We investigated differences in camouflaging between adults with ADHD, autism, and a comparison group in an age and sex-matched subsample (N = 105 per group). We explored if autism and ADHD traits explained camouflaging levels in adults with an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis (N = 477). Adults with ADHD scored higher on total camouflaging and assimilation subscale compared to the comparison group. However, adults with ADHD scored lower on total camouflaging, and subscales compensation and assimilation than autistic adults. Autism traits, but not ADHD traits, were a significant predictor of camouflaging, independent of diagnosis. Thus, camouflaging does not seem to be unique to autistic adults, since adults with ADHD also show camouflaging behavior, even though not as much as autistic adults. However, as the CAT-Q-NL specifically measures camouflaging of autistic traits it is important to develop more general measures of camouflaging, to compare camouflaging more reliably in people with different mental health conditions. Furthermore, focusing on camouflaging in adults with ADHD, including potential consequences for late diagnoses and mental health seems a promising future research avenue.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1002/aur.3099