Towards the measurement of autistic burnout.
New autistic burnout questionnaires still mix with depression and need more revision before you use them in treatment.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Arnold et al. (2023) built two new questionnaires to measure autistic burnout in adults. They asked autistic adults to fill out the drafts online. Then they checked if the scores lined up with depression scales and if the items hung together as one construct.
What they found
The draft tools could not cleanly separate burnout from depression. They also failed to tell current burnout from past burnout. The team rated the measures “not ready” for clinic use.
How this fits with other research
Burrows et al. (2018) already warned that standard depression scales like the PHQ-9 and BDI-II lack validation for autistic adults. Arnold et al. (2023) hit the same wall—items written for burnout still bled into depression.
Cummings et al. (2024) followed with a call for better patient-reported outcome measures in autism. The burnout study is an early answer to that call, showing how hard the job is.
Rieth et al. (2022) and McGonigle et al. (2014) both proved that careful psychometric work can succeed; the Behavioral Inflexibility Scale and Aberrant Behavior Checklist held up in new samples. The burnout team now needs that same level of revision.
Why it matters
You can’t treat what you can’t measure. Until a burnout scale passes validity tests, use depression screens cautiously and add open questions about exhaustion, sensory overload, and loss of skills. Track these separately and re-assess often.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autistic burnout has been talked about by autistic adults for some time on blogs and in social media. Now, research describes fatigue, exhaustion and other related symptoms experienced by autistic people. We need new ways to help identify autistic burnout. In this study, we tested a new questionnaire called the AASPIRE Autistic Burnout Measure, and we investigated things that are linked to worse autistic burnout. We also trialled a group of Autistic Burnout Severity Items that we made. Working with an autistic researcher, we made the Autistic Burnout Severity Items based on published definitions of autistic burnout. Autistic adults (n = 141) who had experienced autistic burnout completed an online survey. We found that autistic burnout was connected to masking and depression. The Autistic Burnout Measure tool was associated with depression but not with masking. It was not very accurate in telling apart participants who were currently experiencing burnout versus those who were reporting on their past experience. The Autistic Burnout Severity Items might have problems with subscales adding together to measure autistic burnout. More work is needed on how to measure autistic burnout. Our research and other recent studies show autistic people experience a combination of exhaustion, withdrawal and problems with their concentration and thinking. Burnout seems to be linked to the stress experienced by autistic people in their daily lives. We need more research to understand the difference between autistic burnout and other conditions and experiences. We need to develop assessment tools that can help identify this burnout.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2023 · doi:10.1177/13623613221147401