Associations Among Discrimination Experiences and Depression and Anxiety in Autistic Youth

Emerging research indicates that autistic individuals experience discrimination as a neurominority. Among the general population, meta-analyses have demonstrated associations between discrimination and depression and anxiety. As no previous research has examined the relations among discrimination and anxiety/depression in autistic individuals, this study aimed to investigate the association between discrimination and depression, and discrimination and anxiety, in autistic youth. Data were obtained from 2021 to 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), which is a nationally distributed caregiver-report survey. Participants included 2,246 autistic youth 6–17 years old. Caregivers were asked child and household demographic information, and whether the child had a diagnosis (e.g., autism, anxiety, and depression). Caregivers were additionally asked if the child had been treated unfairly due to: (1) race/ethnicity, (2) sexual orientation/gender identity, and (3) health condition/disability. Two binary logistic regressions were conducted with depression and anxiety as the respective dependent variables. Independent variables of interest were types of discrimination. Findings revealed that race/ethnicity discrimination, sexual orientation/gender identity discrimination, and health condition/disability discrimination were associated with increased likelihood of anxiety and depression. Autistic youth experience significant stressors, such as discrimination, due to negative societal attitudes/beliefs about their intersectional minoritized/marginalized identities, which may contribute to increased risk for anxiety and depression.