The Contribution of Invalidation on Suicidality as Reported by Autistic Adults: A Qualitative Content Analysis

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Morgan, L., Heinly, J., Venkatesh, E., Bowers, S., & Harrop, C. (2026). The Contribution of Invalidation on Suicidality as Reported by Autistic Adults: A Qualitative Content Analysis. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581261457551

Publication date: 16 Jun 2026 Added to AutiHub: 23 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
5
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 5 (20.0%)
  1. Lisa Morgan *
  2. Julia Heinly
  3. Ember Venkatesh
  4. Savannah Bowers
  5. Clare Harrop

Abstract

Background: Autistic people experience a higher rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) than the general population and the autism community has identified suicide prevention research, including risk factors, as a priority. One risk factor may be experiencing invalidation (i.e., dismissal or minimization of one’s thoughts, feelings, behaviors, or experiences). However, no studies have asked autistic people about the perceived impact of invalidation on their suicidality. As autistic people report widespread invalidation, including of their diagnosis and characteristics, the relationship between invalidation and STBs in this population deserves exploration. Methods: 106 autistic adults (M age = 38.8, SD age = 11.1) with a history of suicidality completed an online survey that asked if experiencing invalidation had contributed to STBs and, if yes, to describe the invalidation. Qualitative content analysis was used to summarize open-ended responses. Results: 92% of respondents reported invalidation as a contributor to STBs. A range of sources were reported, most frequently parents or other family members (50%), health care providers (32%), and friends or peers (24%). The most common content was invalidation of mental health challenges (43%) and autistic traits (20%). For example, participants reported experiences of being told they were “mak[ing] things up for attention,” not believed or taken seriously, and having their sensory needs and communication differences dismissed. Some respondents reflected on historical invalidation (i.e., experienced years ago; 12%) and others shared that it was overwhelming to summarize due to the extent or frequency (11%). Conclusion: Most autistic adult respondents endorsed that invalidation contributed to STBs. The invalidation reported was pervasive, spanning many sources and relating to deeply personal experiences across the lifespan. These findings support the need for more research on this relationship in addition to a shift toward neuro-affirming conceptualizations of autism and mental health in community and health care settings to prevent invalidation.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 14:09.

Cited references
25
With a DOI
24
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
1
8 / 25 (32.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 25 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
25 / 25 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
1
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
131
From DOI or external metadata
131
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
92 / 131 (70.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 39 / 131 (29.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
29 / 131 (22.1%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 29 / 92 (31.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 24 / 118 (20.3%).
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