Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2025 Dec 2. doi: 10.1002/erv.70062. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Autistic people with an eating disorder (ED) are at higher risk of poorer treatment outcomes and experiences, perhaps due to a lack of understanding surrounding underlying mechanisms. Several factors have been implicated, such as sensory processing and social camouflaging; however, there has been little empirical investigation into how such mechanisms group or cluster together, and if certain clusters place the individual at greater risk of ED severity.
METHOD: A secondary data analysis was conducted on an online survey of n = 180 Autistic adults (mean age = 38 years). Participants completed self-reported measures of sensory processing, social camouflaging and ED symptoms. Hierarchal clustering analyses (HCA) was conducted to explore clustering on sensory and social camouflaging behaviours, and a one-way ANOVA was conducted to explore between-cluster differences on ED symptoms.
RESULTS: Three distinct clusters were identified: Cluster 1 (high camouflaging, low sensory); Cluster 2 (high camouflaging, high sensory); and Cluster 3 (low camouflaging, average sensory). Participants in Cluster 2 reported significantly higher ED symptoms that those in Cluster 3. There were no significant differences between remaining clusters.
CONCLUSION: Findings suggest the combination of these factors may place Autistic individuals at higher ED risk, although future longitudinal, mixed-method and more representative research, which considers a wider range of risk mechanisms, is urgently needed before conclusions can be drawn.
PMID:41332225 | DOI:10.1002/erv.70062
