Mental Health Differences Between Autistic And Non-Autistic Students

New research out of the UK dives into the mental health landscape of autistic and non-autistic undergraduates, finding that while both groups share critical struggles, the depth of the challenge remains greater for autistic students.

A Deeper Look at UK University Stress

A recent cross-sectional online survey involving UK university undergraduates explored the mental health experiences of 226 autistic and 521 non-autistic students.

Moving past the typical labels, the researchers sought to compare not just the number of mental health diagnoses, but also how certain risk and protective factors—like self-esteem, stress, and intolerance of uncertainty—played out across both groups and different genders.

This approach, informed by the biopsychosocial model, treats mental health as a complex blend of biology, personal psychology, and social environment.

The main takeaway? Autistic undergraduates self-reported a significantly higher rate of both current (83.2%) and lifetime (76.6%) mental health diagnoses compared to their non-autistic peers.

This includes specific diagnoses like anxiety disorders, depression, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders.

The findings reinforce existing knowledge: autistic people are at an increased risk of mental health problems across their lifespan.

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What Makes Students Vulnerable? The ‘Uncertainty’ Trap

When it came to risk factors, the study unveiled surprising common ground.

The top predictor for anxiety and worry in both groups was intolerance of uncertainty.

This psychological trait describes an individual’s tendency to view uncertain situations—like waiting for exam results or planning a social event—as inherently stressful and upsetting, leading to constant worry.

For university students, this can manifest as paralyzing anxiety about academic success or navigating new social dynamics.

The finding suggests that even with the unique challenges of autism, this basic difficulty with the unknown is a universal driver of student anxiety.

Similarly, low scores on the Resilience Scale predicted higher levels of suicidality across both autistic and non-autistic participants.

Resilience, the ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity, acts as a shared shield.

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The Unseen Battle: Gender and Suicidality

While anxiety and behavioral symptoms of depression didn’t show gender differences in autistic participants, a critical disparity emerged around suicidality.

Autistic females reported significantly higher levels of suicidality (which included both suicidal ideation and behaviors) than autistic males, non-autistic females, and non-autistic males.

Students identifying as a gender other than male or female in both groups also showed higher rates of suicidality compared to their non-autistic female peers.

This highlights that for autistic women and gender-diverse students, the compounding pressures of university life, gender-related adversity, and neurodevelopmental differences can lead to a dangerously elevated risk.

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Beyond Shared Struggles: Unique Predictors

The research also identified risk factors that were distinct or weighted differently between the groups:

• Autistic Students: Increased levels of camouflaging (masking autistic traits in social settings) and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were associated with higher behavioral symptoms of depression and anxiety. Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) were uniquely linked to an increased risk of suicidality.
• Non-Autistic Students: Higher perceived social support was a stronger protective factor, predicting significantly lower levels of suicidality and behavioral symptoms of depression and anxiety.

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Why It Matters

The research provides a clear map for university support services, confirming that while autistic students are a high-risk group that needs targeted support, many mental health challenges are fundamentally shared.

For everyday readers and clinicians, the findings are a call to action:

• Target Uncertainty: Interventions should focus on building strategies, like cognitive-behavioral techniques, to help all students manage uncertainty and worry, rather than trying to eliminate stress entirely.
• Foster Resilience: Resilience-building workshops and programs should be broadly implemented, as high resilience universally predicts better mental health outcomes.
• Prioritize Autistic Women: Given the significantly higher suicidality rates in autistic females, support services must specifically target this group with specialized, gender-informed mental health resources.
• Look Deeper for Non-Autistic Students: For non-autistic students, the importance of strong social support signals that fostering community connections may be the most vital preventive strategy.

By recognizing that most mental health risk and protective factors are more similar than different across all undergraduates, universities can create inclusive support systems that benefit everyone while still offering the specialized, critical help that autistic students—especially autistic females—desperately need.