Understanding the Impact of Camouflaging in Autistic People

Osborne, Clarissa (2025) Understanding the Impact of Camouflaging in Autistic People. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Background. Autistic people often camouflage to hide or modify aspects of themselves in social situations; however, this can have negative consequences for autistic people's mental health and sense of self and may delay autism identification. Further research on the impact of camouflaging in autistic adults is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and inform mental health support for autistic people.

Systematic Review. A systematic review explored how camouflaging and autistic burnout are experienced in relation to one another by autistic people. A narrative synthesis with thematic analysis was used to synthesise the qualitative data from 14 studies. Four themes with two subthemes were found: ‘the energy cost of camouflaging’; ‘burnout: camouflaging takes its toll’ with the subtheme ‘too drained to disguise’; ‘time and space to recharge’ with the subtheme ‘unmasking is a balancing act’; and ‘the autistic struggle’.

Empirical Paper. An empirical study was conducted aiming to explore the impact of camouflaging on self-concept clarity, psychological wellbeing, and age of diagnosis in autistic adults, and identify potential moderators of these relationships. One hundred and eighty-five autistic adults were recruited via social media to complete an online questionnaire. Camouflaging was found to have a significant effect on self-concept clarity, depression, and social anxiety, and gender diversity significantly moderated camouflaging’s relationship with both self-concept clarity and depression.

Conclusions. These findings have implications for mental health professionals working with autistic adults, highlighting the role of camouflaging in mental health difficulties. The findings of both papers are critically discussed and directions for future research are proposed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	19 May 2026 10:37
Last Modified:	19 May 2026 12:27
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103087
DOI:

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