"Do My Friends Only Like the School Me or the True Me?": School Belonging, Camouflaging, and Anxiety in Autistic Students.

This study looked at 72 autistic teenagers in mainstream schools to understand why they feel anxious. Researchers found that when autistic students don't feel like they belong at school, they try to hide their autism (called 'camouflaging' or 'masking'). This hiding behavior actually makes their anxiety worse. The study found that feeling accepted, having good relationships, and schools making helpful changes all help students feel like they belong.

This study examined the relationship between school belonging, camouflaging behaviors, and anxiety in 72 autistic secondary students from UK and Ireland mainstream schools. Using validated questionnaires and qualitative content analysis, researchers found that camouflaging mediated the relationship between school belonging and anxiety. Students who felt less belonging at school were more likely to camouflage their autistic traits, which in turn increased their anxiety levels. Qualitative findings identified key factors influencing school belonging: social relationships, individual factors, environmental adaptations, and acceptance/understanding.

The research provides important insights into how school environments impact autistic students' mental health and highlights the psychological costs of masking autistic traits in educational settings.

Results suggest interventions should focus on improving school belonging rather than teaching camouflaging skills. Schools need environmental modifications, autism acceptance programs, and support for authentic self-expression. Clinicians should assess camouflaging behaviors as potential anxiety risk factors in autistic students.

Small sample size (n=72) limits generalizability. Cross-sectional design prevents causal inferences. Limited to UK/Ireland mainstream schools only. Self-report measures may introduce bias. Study type not specified in metadata.

The prevalence of autistic students in schools is continuously increasing. Typically, the social and sensory differences associated with autism can make the school environment difficult to manage. Autistic students are more likely to experience mental health difficulties than their non-autistic peers. It is therefore important to listen to autistic people about their educational experiences and explore ways that the environment could be changed to reduce anxiety.

The current research explores whether the relationship between school belonging and anxiety in secondary-aged autistic students is mediated by camouflaging. An anonymous online survey was completed by 72 autistic students attending mainstream schools in the UK and Ireland. The survey included questionnaires about school belonging (simple sense of belonging scale), anxiety (ASC-ASD) and camouflaging traits (CAT-Q). Further, the survey included open-ended questions about environmental factors related to school belonging and camouflaging.

Qualitative content analysis was used to interpret answers to open ended questions. The results found that, as predicted, camouflaging did mediate the relationship between school belonging and anxiety. Categories were created for each question, for example, 'the school environment' and 'acceptance and understanding'. Social relationships; individual factors; the environment and adaptations, and acceptance and understanding, influence students' sense of belonging.