The Impact of Autistic Identity and Self-Esteem on Social Anxiety and Well-Being in Autistic Adults
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a natural neurodevelopmental variation characterized by deficits in social communication and the presence of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior or interest. Among autistic populations, anxiety and depression are frequent comorbid conditions. Having a strong sense of autistic identity has been shown to increase psychological well-being and buffer against social anxiety in autistic adults. Different subcomponents of identity, however, have shown differing effects on these outcomes in autistic youth. The present study is examining how different subcomponents of identity (satisfaction, solidarity, centrality, individual self-stereotyping, and in-group homogeneity) affect psychological well-being and social anxiety in autistic adults. The study is also examining if identity and self-esteem act as mediators between fear of negative evaluation and social anxiety. Preliminary findings (from N=17 participants) indicated that autism solidarity predicted higher social anxiety. Autism solidarity and centrality predicted lower well-being, while autism satisfaction predicted higher well-being. Neither autism identity nor self-esteem mediated the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and social anxiety. These findings suggest that developing autistic identity may come with different strengths and challenges across development and underscore the need for more research on promoting healthy autistic identity development in autistic youth and adults.