Abstract
Background:
There is community knowledge shared among autistic and other neurodivergent (ND) communities that ND individuals are more likely to share other non-normative identities, along with research demonstrating that ND individuals have worse mental health outcomes than neurotypicals (NTs). The purpose of this study is to assess how co-occurrence of neurodivergence with other minority statuses impacts distress and discrimination among students in a large university student sample (N = 2206) in Canada and to examine representation of ND students across different identities and minority groups.
Methods:
Participants were recruited to an online survey and coded based on reported gender, sexuality, racial and linguistic groups, citizenship status, relationship preferences, religiosity, socioeducational profile, and neurodivergencies. Psychological distress was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and experience of discrimination was assessed using the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS). Analyses of variance were conducted to examine the differences in DASS-21 and EDS scores between ND and non-ND groups across different groups.
Results:
ND participants were more likely to share Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and other nonheterosexual and gender-expansive identities and to engage in nonconventional relationship dynamics, academic trajectories, and spiritual paths. White participants were proportionally more represented among NDs than non-White participants, which might reflect cultural and systemic factors. ND participants had higher scores in all subscales of the DASS-21 but not the EDS. Main and interaction effects in DASS-21 scores were observed between neurodivergence and gender, racial group, and income, and main effects were observed in nonheterosexual participants. Main and interaction effects were found between neurodivergence and racial and linguistic minority statuses in discrimination scores.
Conclusion:
Results of this study reflect the community-based understanding that ND individuals are more likely to share other non-normative identities and enlighten the impact of race, gender, and linguistic status on the mental health of ND university students. Our findings endorse a culturally sensitive approach for supporting neurominoritized students.
Community Brief
Why is this an important issue?
Neurodivergent communities, such as the autistic community, have long observed that neurodivergent individuals are more likely to hold “unconventional” identities than neurotypicals. These identities include forms of sexual and gender expression outside of the norms, relationship styles different than monogamous relationships, and other life trajectories outside of the “mainstream.” Among many other topics that autistic and neurodivergent individuals have brought up for public discussion, several people also noted that there is a mental health crisis in their communities, due to increased barriers to academic and health care support, pressure to “mask” neurodivergent traits, and neuroableism. Unfortunately, most scientific publications about neurodivergent individuals have not tried to understand the impact of co-occurring marginalized identities on the psychological distress experienced by young neurodivergent people or how many of them identify with “nonconventional” identities.
What was the purpose of this study?
Our study examined how neurodivergent university students from different cultural backgrounds identify in terms of race, language, gender, spiritual path, relationship preferences, and other identities. We also examined whether neurodivergent students who share other marginalized identities were experiencing more distress and discrimination than neurotypicals.
What did the researchers do?
We analyzed the representation of neurodivergent university students across different demographic and cultural groups, with a focus on racial, linguistic, sexual, and gender minorities, and other groups. We also compared the levels of distress and discrimination experienced by neurominoritized students in different groups.
What were the results of the study?
In our sample, neurodivergent participants were proportionally more represented among White students, sexual and gender minorities, and those engaging in nonconventional relationship dynamics, academic trajectories, and spiritual paths. Neurodivergent students were more distressed in all groups, especially if they were People of Color or had lower income. Neurodivergent students who were also linguistic or racial minorities were also more discriminated.
What do these findings add to what was already known?
Our research helps scientists get one step closer to representing in the literature some of the many important insights that neurodivergent communities have been sharing for decades, especially the identification with “unconventional groups,” and the notion that the more marginalized identities a neurodivergent person has, the more likely they are to be experiencing emotional distress.
What are potential weaknesses in the study?
Some of our questions could be better tailored to the experiences of distress and discrimination that are unique to neurodivergent students. We were also not able to analyze data from groups that were underrepresented in our sample, for instance, Black neurodivergent immigrants or Autistic Indigenous people. We also did not examine the differences between people who have a formal diagnosis (e.g., of autism and ADHD) and those who self-identified.
How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?
Our study brings more representation to autistic and other neurodivergent individuals to scientific literature in a depathologized way and highlights some of the important long-held insights that neurodivergent people shared in the community and were indeed reported by our participants. Hopefully, our study will also inform institutional policies to support neurodivergent students in higher education and in clinical settings, including mental health support that uses neuroaffirming and culturally sensitive approaches to treatment.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.