Autistic Traits and Suicidality in Midlife and Old Age: Investigating Mediating Effects of Mental Health and Social Connectedness

Autistic Traits and Suicidality in Midlife and Old Age: Investigating Mediating Effects of Mental Health and Social Connectedness | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Autistic Traits and Suicidality in Midlife and Old Age: Investigating Mediating Effects of Mental Health and Social Connectedness Joshua Stott, Eleanor Nuzum, Radvile Medeisyte, Aphrodite Eshetu, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6913884/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 27 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Mental Health → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Aims: Suicidality is increased among middle-aged and older autistic adults; however, little is known about underlying factors linking Autism with suicidality in midlife and older age. This is the first study to address this. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study of 9,979 adults (76% female) aged 50+ completed questionnaires measuring autistic traits, current mental health, social connections, and suicidality (suicidal ideation and suicidal self-harm). Path analysis explored the relationship between autistic traits and suicidality and the mediating effects of current mental health, social connectedness and male/female sex. Results: Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), loneliness and social isolation all significantly mediated the relationship between autistic traits and suicidal ideation. For suicidal self-harm, male sex, depression, PTSD and social isolation were mediators. Conclusions: Mental health difficulties and social isolation mediated higher rates of suicidality in 50+ year olds with high autistic traits. Targeted and individually tailored interventions for people on the Autism spectrum across the lifespan are important. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Psychology Health sciences/Risk factors Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 27 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Mental Health → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6913884","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":477396190,"identity":"016b66fa-21ea-43ac-9cc5-141dacb016ee","order_by":0,"name":"Joshua 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