Pretending To Be Autistic And Mental Health Status Among High School Students: A Moderated Mediation Mode

Camouflage traits is the behavior of individuals with high autistic traits to reduce the expression of their autistic traits due to social needs.Short-term camouflage can help individuals temporarily integrate into the group,but long-term camouflage has a negative impact on the individual’s physical and mental condition,and even leads to serious mental health problems.High school students are in a critical period of physical and mental development,and as their social needs increase,they are more likely to develop camouflage traits,and the probability of harming their mental health status increases.Therefore,this study investigates the mechanisms and factors that influence the mental health status of high school students’ camouflage traits based on domestic and international research on the relationship between camouflage traits and mental health status.Using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale,the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory,the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire,the State Self-Control Capacity Scale,the Family Assessment Device,899 high school freshmen and sophomores in Guangzhou City were investigated,and the results showed that(1)autistic traits are prevalent in the high school student population,and camouflage traits significantly and positively predict mental health status,and the higher the degree of camouflage traits,The higher the degree of camouflage traits,the worse the mental health status;(2)state self-control mediates the relationship between camouflage traits and mental health status of high school students;(3)family function plays a significant moderating role between camouflage traits and state self-control of high school students and camouflage traits and mental health status of high school students.At high levels of family function,the effect of high school students’ camouflage traits on state self-control was reduced;at low levels of family function,the predictive effect of high school students’ camouflage traits on mental health status was enhanced.Based on these results,it is proposed that the mental health development of high school students can be promoted by improving family function,enhancing scientific understanding of autistic traits,reducing camouflage traits,and intervening in state self-control.