ADVERTISEMENT
Adults With ADHD Report 'Camouflaging' Their Symptoms
Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) camouflage, or use strategies to minimize the visibility of symptoms, less than adults with autism but more than age and sex-matched peers without either diagnosis, according to study results published in the journal Autism Research.
“In the present study, we investigated whether camouflaging is unique for autistic people or whether people with ADHD also use camouflaging strategies. We argued that investigating camouflaging in people with ADHD is also important, because it could help understand why adults with ADHD experience elevated levels of mental health difficulties and why some people receive their ADHD diagnosis only later in life,” wrote corresponding author WJ van der Putten, MSc, of the Dutch Autism & ADHD Research Center at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and study coauthors.
>>QUIZ: ADHD medication discontinuation was highest in which age group?
The first part of the study included 105 adults with ADHD, 105 adults with autism, and 105 age- and sex-matched adults. Camouflaging behavior was measured using the self-reported Dutch Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q-NL).
Compared with the matched comparison group, adults with ADHD scored higher on total camouflaging and the subscale for assimilation, according to the study. However, adults with ADHD scored lower on total camouflaging, and the compensation and assimilation subscales, compared with adults with autism.
In an analysis of 477 adults with autism and/or ADHD, autism traits significantly predicted camouflaging behavior independent of diagnosis. ADHD traits did not.
“However, because the CAT-Q-NL measures camouflaging of autistic traits, it is difficult to disentangle whether only someone’s autism traits are important for camouflaging or whether ADHD traits could also play a role when camouflaging would be measured more broadly,” researchers wrote.
The team advised the need for more general measures that gauge camouflaging strategies independent of diagnosis. They also recommended research into whether camouflaging could play a role in mental health problems and late diagnoses experienced by people with ADHD.
“It is important for clinicians and researchers to be aware of the potential impact of camouflaging in people with ADHD, so that appropriate mental health care can be provided earlier and better,” researchers advised. “Our study helps us one step in that direction.”
Reference
