Autism Traits, ADHD Symptoms, and Stigma as Predictors of Social Camouflaging in Adults from the Australian ASD and ADHD Study

BackgroundIndividuals with Autism and/or ADHD often experience stigma related to their diagnosis. Social camouflaging is a coping strategy they can use to hide neurodivergent traits and difficulties, possibly as a response to stigma. According to Social Identity Theory, how others perceive one’s social group shapes self-esteem and so members of stigmatised groups may conceal aspects of their identity to protect it. Stigma may increase the salience of neurodivergent traits, such that stigmatised individuals with more pronounced traits may use more camouflaging to manage a stigmatised identity. This study examines to what extent Autistic traits, ADHD symptoms, and mental health-related stigma predict camouflaging among Australian adults with Autism and/or ADHD, and whether stigma moderates the associations between traits and camouflaging. We hypothesised positive associations for all predictors with stronger associations among individuals reporting stigma. Methods5,651 adults (≥18 years) with Autism and/or ADHD diagnoses completed a self-report online survey for the Australian ASD and ADHD Study (AAAStudy). The survey included the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire, Autism Spectrum Quotient-10, Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, and a single-item mental health-related stigma measure. We performed a three-block hierarchical multiple regression to predict camouflaging, controlling for age, age of onset, gender, and diagnoses. ResultsAutistic traits were negatively associated with camouflaging, while ADHD symptoms and stigma were positively associated. Interactions between stigma and neurodevelopmental traits were non-significant. A post hoc analysis within the Autism-only group showed a positive but non-significant association between Autistic traits and camouflaging. ConclusionOur findings suggest that camouflaging reflects broader atypical traits and behavioural challenges rather than Autistic-specific characteristics. The absence of moderation effects suggests that stigma could influence camouflaging more directly than we theorised, or indirectly through other mechanisms, such as fear of negative evaluation. Future work should develop broader camouflaging measures and include developmental contexts and other neurodiverse communities.