Standard therapy often misses the mark for autistic adults, study finds
Mar 4th 2026
A large analysis of routine mental health services found that most autistic adults had limited benefit from standard psychological therapies for depression and anxiety, with outcomes linked to daily functioning and ethnicity and early patterns often visible by session three.
- Researchers tracked 7,175 autistic adults in England across the first eight therapy sessions using standard depression and anxiety questionnaires.
- Most participants showed little or no improvement in depression or anxiety during routine psychological therapy.
- The study identified five distinct depression trajectories and seven anxiety trajectories, including small groups with rapid improvement and small groups with symptom worsening.
- Greater pre-treatment difficulties with daily functioning predicted poorer therapy outcomes.
- Autistic adults from ethnically minoritized groups were more likely to experience worsening anxiety during treatment.
- Trajectories could often be predicted by the third session, suggesting early review could help tailor care to individual needs.