Citation

O'Connor RA, Doherty M, Ryan-Enright T, Gaynor K. Autism 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, National Autistic Society, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/13623613231215026

PMID

38145308

Abstract

Difficulties with mental health and low levels of well-being are more common among autistic girls and women than non-autistic people, but we do not fully understand why. Research does not focus enough on what autistic girls and women could tell us about this. This review aims to summarise the studies where autistic girls and women explain things that affect their mental health and well-being to help us understand how to prevent these difficulties from developing. Three research databases were searched to find possibly relevant studies. There were 877 studies found, which two researchers screened according to particular criteria. They found 52 studies that could be included in this review. One researcher evaluated the quality of these studies and extracted the key information from them. This review summarises the views of 973 autistic girls and women aged between 13 and 70+. The findings from the 52 studies were analysed, and we found many factors that affect the mental health and well-being of autistic girls and women. These factors fall into two categories: (1) difficulties living in a world not designed for autistic people and (2) the impact of stigma due to being autistic.

Language: en

Keywords

mental health; female; well-being; autism; neurodiversity