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Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism

INTRODUCTION: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts. Social camouflaging was first shown to be a characteristic of autistic persons, who actively try to disguise and compensate for their autism f...

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Autores principales: Alaghband-rad, Javad, Hajikarim-Hamedani, Arman, Motamed, Mahtab
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10060524/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37009119
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1108110
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author Alaghband-rad, Javad
Hajikarim-Hamedani, Arman
Motamed, Mahtab
author_facet Alaghband-rad, Javad
Hajikarim-Hamedani, Arman
Motamed, Mahtab
author_sort Alaghband-rad, Javad
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts. Social camouflaging was first shown to be a characteristic of autistic persons, who actively try to disguise and compensate for their autism features in social contexts in an effort to socially blend in better. Recently, an increasing, though still insufficient, number of studies has been conducted on the concept of camouflage; however, different aspect of it, from psychopathology and etiology to its complications and consequences, are not clearly defined. We aimed to systematically review the existing literature on camouflage in autistic adults to describe the correlates of camouflage, motivations for exhibiting camouflage behavior, and the potential impacts of camouflage on the mental health of autistic individuals. METHODS: We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist guidelines to conduct a systematic review. The databases of PubMed and Scopus, and PsycInfo were searched for eligible studies. Studies were published between January 1st, 1980, to April 1st, 2022. RESULTS: We included 16 articles, of which four studies were qualitative and 11 were quantitative. One study used a mix method. The assessment tools used for camouflage, the correlates of camouflage including autism severity, gender, age, cognitive profile and neuroanatomical correlates, reasons for camouflage and the impacts of camouflaging behavior on mental health are discussed in this review. DISCUSSION: In synthesizing the literature, we conclude that camouflage seems to be more common among females who report more autistic symptoms themselves. There may also be some differences between men and women in reasons of exhibiting it and its neuroanatomical correlates. Further research is needed as to why this phenomenon is more prevalent in females with implications for gender related cognitive and neuroanatomical differences. Effects of camouflage on mental health and daily life measures of individuals such as employment, university graduation, relationship, financial status, and quality of life should be studied with more details in future studies.
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spelling pubmed-100605242023-03-31 Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism Alaghband-rad, Javad Hajikarim-Hamedani, Arman Motamed, Mahtab Front Psychiatry Psychiatry INTRODUCTION: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts. Social camouflaging was first shown to be a characteristic of autistic persons, who actively try to disguise and compensate for their autism features in social contexts in an effort to socially blend in better. Recently, an increasing, though still insufficient, number of studies has been conducted on the concept of camouflage; however, different aspect of it, from psychopathology and etiology to its complications and consequences, are not clearly defined. We aimed to systematically review the existing literature on camouflage in autistic adults to describe the correlates of camouflage, motivations for exhibiting camouflage behavior, and the potential impacts of camouflage on the mental health of autistic individuals. METHODS: We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist guidelines to conduct a systematic review. The databases of PubMed and Scopus, and PsycInfo were searched for eligible studies. Studies were published between January 1st, 1980, to April 1st, 2022. RESULTS: We included 16 articles, of which four studies were qualitative and 11 were quantitative. One study used a mix method. The assessment tools used for camouflage, the correlates of camouflage including autism severity, gender, age, cognitive profile and neuroanatomical correlates, reasons for camouflage and the impacts of camouflaging behavior on mental health are discussed in this review. DISCUSSION: In synthesizing the literature, we conclude that camouflage seems to be more common among females who report more autistic symptoms themselves. There may also be some differences between men and women in reasons of exhibiting it and its neuroanatomical correlates. Further research is needed as to why this phenomenon is more prevalent in females with implications for gender related cognitive and neuroanatomical differences. Effects of camouflage on mental health and daily life measures of individuals such as employment, university graduation, relationship, financial status, and quality of life should be studied with more details in future studies. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-03-16 /pmc/articles/PMC10060524/ /pubmed/37009119 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1108110 Text en Copyright © 2023 Alaghband-rad, Hajikarim-Hamedani and Motamed. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Alaghband-rad, Javad
Hajikarim-Hamedani, Arman
Motamed, Mahtab
Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism
title Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism
title_full Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism
title_fullStr Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism
title_full_unstemmed Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism
title_short Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism
title_sort camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10060524/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37009119
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1108110
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