A Quantitative Analysis of Mental Health Among Sexual and Gender Minority Groups in ASD.
Autistic clients who also identify as sexual or gender minorities carry compounded mental-health risk—screen these clients more intensively.
01Research in Context
What this study did
George et al. (2018) asked autistic and non-autistic adults to fill out mental-health surveys.
They compared people who were straight and cisgender with people who were gay, bi, trans, or non-binary.
The team wanted to know if being both autistic and a sexual or gender minority adds extra mental-health risk.
What they found
Depression, anxiety, and stress went up as group membership became more restrictive.
Autistic adults who were also LGBTQ+ reported the worst scores.
The pattern was weaker in non-autistic adults.
How this fits with other research
Costa et al. (2020) asked similar questions and found the same group faces more doctor refusals and unmet health needs.
Chang et al. (2022) looked back in time and saw that low family support plus lots of repetitive behaviors predicted gender-dysphoric wishes in autistic youth.
George et al. (2018) found higher gender-dysphoric traits in autistic adults, but the direction looks opposite. The difference is simple: one counts traits (positive finding) while the other counts mental-health harm (negative finding).
Together the four papers draw the same picture: being autistic and LGBTQ+ stacks risk.
Why it matters
If your client is autistic, add sexual and gender identity to your intake form. Ask about depression, anxiety, and stress every visit. Offer referrals to LGBTQ+-affirming therapists. Small extra steps catch big problems early.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
There is increased mental-health adversity among individuals with autism spectrum disorder. At the same time, sexual and gender minority groups experience poorer mental-health when compared to heteronormative populations. Recent research suggests that autistic individuals report increased non-heterosexuality and gender-dysphoric traits. The current study aimed to investigate whether as membership of minority grouping becomes increasingly narrowed, mental health worsened. The present study compared the rates of depression, anxiety, and stress using the DASS-21 and Personal Well-Being using the personal well-being index between 261 typically-developing individuals and 309 autistic individuals. As membership to a minority group became more restrictive, mental health symptoms worsened (p < .01), suggesting stressors added. Specialized care is recommended for this vulnerable cohort.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2018 · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3469-1