Examining mental and physical health between autistic women and women with serious mental illness

Abstract

BackgroundCompared with their male counterparts, autistic women and women with serious mental illness (SMI) usually report comparable or better objective outcomes (e.g. more socially valued roles) but also poorer subjective outcomes (e.g. depression). While a number of studies investigated gender differences in adult outcome in autism or in SMI, this study is to our knowledge one of the first to compare whether autistic women would differ from women with SMI in their profiles of co-occurring health conditions, psychosocial function and in variables related to socially valued roles. MethodsTo explore this issue, we recruited 112 women (57 autistic women and 55 women with SMI) from one center of the REHABase cohort. Evaluation included a medical interview (DSM-5), an interview by a trained midwife to investigate co-occurring health conditions and a standardized scale for psychosocial function (Global Assessment of Functioning scale; GAF). ResultsCompared with women with SMI, autistic women had better psychosocial function but had also a higher mean number of co-occurring mental and physical health conditions. Autistic women were more likely to report current depression (beta=2.25; p = 0.002), current anxiety (beta=2.67; p < 0.001) and a history of school bullying (beta=2.05; p = 0.013). Autistic women reported less desire to become mothers. ConclusionsWhile autistic women and women with SMI report additional challenges resulting in poorer mental health compared with non-autistic women and their male counterparts, the present study suggests that autistic women may experience unique challenges and have unique treatment needs that should be taken into account when designing service provision.