Abstract
Autistic adolescents are at increased risk of mental health difficulties. One potential factor contributing to this is identity development, although this hypothesis has been little explored. These adolescents also have to consider how autism forms their identity, a process called acculturation. This exploratory study examined the relationships between identity, acculturation and mental health in autistic adolescents. Twenty-four participants completed measures investigating identity, acculturation and mental health. Findings suggested mental health was not related to personal identity. Mental health scores did not differ between acculturation groups, however those aligned to non-autistic culture tended to generate more positive self-statements than those aligned to neither culture. These findings suggest autistic adolescents should be encouraged to explore autistic culture and supported in constructing their identity.
Highlights
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, characterised by difficulties with social communication and interaction, as well as repetitive patterns of behaviour, focused activities or interests and sensory sensitivities (American Psychiatric Association 2013)
Erikson (1968) introduced the idea that a relationship exists between identity development and mental health, which is still considered useful in understanding mental
We propose that there will be a relationship between personal identity and mental health in autistic adolescents
Summary
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, characterised by difficulties with social communication and interaction, as well as repetitive patterns of behaviour, focused activities or interests and sensory sensitivities (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Tantam 2000; Ghaziuddin et al 2002), and this increased vulnerability is prominent during adolescence (Vickerstaff et al 2007; Lecavalier 2006) Given this prevalence amongst autistic adolescents, it is important to examine factors that might contribute to the development of these difficulties. Identity status theory (Marcia 1980; Kroger et al 2010a, b) purports that one’s sense of identity is determined by the choices and commitments made regarding certain personal and social traits. Research using non-autistic samples shows that adolescents with high anxiety struggle more with identity development (Crocetti et al 2008) and those who have not made a commitment tend to have higher depressive symptoms (Meeus et al 2012). A growing body of empirical studies that use the identity status model indicate that developing a synthesized sense of identity facilitates wellbeing (Waterman et al 2010) and protects against internalizing symptoms (Ritchie et al 2013) and externalizing problems (Crocetti et al 2013)
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