A Three-Part Study to Enhance Understanding of Social Behavior and Identity Preferences of Autistic Adolescents
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: As knowledge of autism expands, so does our understanding of the behaviors utilized by many autistic individuals to “fit in,” or camouflage their autistic traits. Much is unknown about camouflaging, including how race and/or ethnicity and the strength of racial/ethnic identity influence camouflaging among autistic adolescents. Issues related to neurodivergent identity development are an emerging area of investigation, more specifically terminology preference amongst autistic adults. However, it is unclear whether adolescents with autism have similar views regarding terminology use and how strongly they feel about issues related to language use. These questions may have important implications for identity development in neurodiverse adolescents. Purpose: This three-study dissertation enhances understanding of social behavior and identity preferences of autistic adolescents. The first study examined whether race/ethnicity, specifically being Black/African American (AA), impacted camouflaging rates for adolescent males with autism. The second study explored how other factors, mainly strength of racial/ethnic identity impacted camouflaging rates for adolescents with and without autism. The third study investigated adolescent terminology preferences compared to parent preferences. Methods: Data for all three studies were collected via SPARK Research Match beginning in Spring 2023. English-speaking, adolescents between ages 13-17, living in the United States, and their parents were invited to participate. Results: Results of study 1 indicated no significant differences in self-reported autism traits or camouflaging between Black/AA and White males with autism. Results of the hierarchical regression in Study 2 indicate that strength of racial/ethnic identity does not predict variance in CAT-Q scores. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests in Study 3 highlight variation in terminology and strength of preferences of autistic adolescents, as well as…
abstract: Background: As knowledge of autism expands, so does our understanding of the behaviors utilized by many autistic individuals to “fit in,” or camouflage their autistic traits. Much is unknown about camouflaging, including how race and/or ethnicity and the strength of racial/ethnic identity influence camouflaging among autistic adolescents. Issues related to neurodivergent identity development are an emerging area of investigation, more specifically terminology preference amongst autistic adults. However, it is unclear whether adolescents with autism have similar views regarding terminology use and how strongly they feel about issues related to language use. These questions may have important implications for identity development in neurodiverse adolescents. Purpose: This three-study dissertation enhances understanding of social behavior and identity preferences of autistic adolescents. The first study examined whether race/ethnicity, specifically being Black/African American (AA), impacted camouflaging rates for adolescent males with autism. The second study explored how other factors, mainly strength of racial/ethnic identity impacted camouflaging rates for adolescents with and without autism. The third study investigated adolescent terminology preferences compared to parent preferences. Methods: Data for all three studies were collected via SPARK Research Match beginning in Spring 2023. English-speaking, adolescents between ages 13-17, living in the United States, and their parents were invited to participate. Results: Results of study 1 indicated no significant differences in self-reported autism traits or camouflaging between Black/AA and White males with autism. Results of the hierarchical regression in Study 2 indicate that strength of racial/ethnic identity does not predict variance in CAT-Q scores. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests in Study 3 highlight variation in terminology and strength of preferences of autistic adolescents, as well as…
author: Laakman, Anna
language: English
keywords: Psychology
date published: 2025-08
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:32:12Z
provider: University of Houston
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Houston

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/10657/20622