Social camouflaging (SC; ie, the concealing of autistic traits to socially assimilate) is associated with poor mental health, self-identity and quality of life outcomes, yet its typology, consequences and contextual triggers remain unexplored in autistic adolescents. Further study is necessary to identify protective factors against the potentially negative outcomes associated with SC to promote long-term well-being.

The current project will investigate SC in youth and its mental health, cognitive and neurophysiological correlates. Camouflaging will be captured by triangulating self-reported and caregiver-reported SC behaviours, as well as SC behaviours in day-to-day contexts using intensive longitudinal methods (ie, daily diaries). Non-autistic, self-identifying autistic and formally diagnosed autistic adolescents aged 15–18 years (N=150) will be recruited. Adolescents and caregivers will complete rating scales to assess mental health, and adolescents will complete in-lab cognitive assessments of attention, executive function, intellectual ability and theory of mind. Brain neurophysiological function and cortisol concentration over time will be measured during the same visit using electroencephalography and hair samples, respectively. Over the following 7 days, adolescents will complete daily diaries using their smartphones. The daily diaries pose survey questions about the type and degree of SC behaviour used within their daily environment, including the social context, individuals who are present and current well-being. Adolescents will also complete brief performance-based cognitive assessments of attention and executive function integrated within the daily diary surveys. Finally, adolescents and their parents will complete a follow-up of SC behaviours and mental health at 3 months. Correlations and regression analyses will be conducted to explore the associations between SC and mental health/cognitive outcomes and how baseline measures of cognition, mental health and SC predict patterns seen on the daily diaries. Multilevel modelling will be used, nesting daily data to capture within-person and between-group differences in contextual predictors of camouflaging behaviour. Results will contribute to current understanding of the typology of camouflaging, as well as inform intervention to mitigate mental health challenges for autistic youth.

This project is approved by the University of Victoria Human Research Ethics Board (#23–0013) and the University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board (#23–0641). Informed consent will be obtained from caregivers and adolescent participants, and safety procedures will be put in place to support the adolescent should mental health concerns arise. Results will be disseminated through academic publications and conferences, as well as summarised and communicated to interested participants and relevant stakeholders.