Research into autism and mental health has traditionally associated poor mental health and autism as inevitably linked. Other possible explanations for mental health problems among autistic populations have received little attention. As evidenced by the minority disability movement, autism is increasingly being considered part of the identities of autistic people. Autistic individuals thus constitute an identity-based minority and may be exposed to excess social stress as a result of disadvantaged and stigmatized social status. The authors test the utility of the minority stress model as an explanation for the experience of mental health problems within a sample of high-functioning autistic individuals (n = 111). Minority stressors including everyday discrimination, internalized stigma, and concealment significantly predicted poorer mental health, despite controlling for general stress exposure. These results indicate the potential utility of minority stress in explaining increased mental health problems in autistic populations. Implications for research and clinical applications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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扩展少数群体压力模型以了解自闭症人群遇到的心理健康问题

传统上，对自闭症和心理健康的研究不可避免地将不良的心理健康和自闭症联系在一起。自闭症人群中有关心理健康问题的其他可能解释很少受到关注。正如少数族裔残疾人运动所证明的那样，自闭症正日益被视为自闭症患者身份的一部分。因此，自闭症患者构成了基于身份的少数群体，由于处于不利地位和被污名化的社会地位而可能遭受过度的社会压力。作者测试了少数压力模型的效用，以解释高功能自闭症个体（n = 111）中心理健康问题的经历。包括日常歧视，内在污名和隐瞒在内的少数压力因素显着预测了心理健康状况较差，尽管控制了一般的压力暴露。这些结果表明，少数族裔压力在解释自闭症人群心理健康问题方面的潜在效用。讨论了对研究和临床应用的影响。