Camouflaging and its Neural Correlates in Children, Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
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2021-07-06
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en
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Abstract
Many people with autism want to ‘fit in’ during social situations. To do so, they use so-called camouflaging strategies to hide their autistic traits and social difficulties. However, features associated with camouflaging across development and the underlying neural structures remain unknown. Therefore, this study investigated the clinical and phenotypic factors associated with camouflaging and its neural correlates in autistic children, adolescents and adults with autism (n=327). Camouflaging was operationalized as the discrepancy between observable and internal autistic symptoms as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Spectrum Quotient. We found that camouflaging was higher in females, and that it was associated with higher IQ and anxiety. No differences in grey matter volume or functional connectivity patterns were related to camouflaging. These findings implicate that recognizing camouflaging as part of the diverse autism behaviour presentations can improve autism recognition and enable more timely diagnoses.
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Autism spectrum, disorder, Camouflaging, Resting-state functional connectivity, Grey matter density, Sex differences, Age
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen