25/02/2026
Double whammy of Autism and ethnic minority status on the psychological therapy outcomes in England
A recent article published in the Nature Mental Health by Pender et al ( 2026; https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-025-00567-4) examined psychological therapy intervention for adults with autism who also had depression/and or anxiety. They examined therapy outcomes in 7175 individuals with autism who received psychological therapy in NHS setting across England. An improvement was observed in around 23% of the individuals who were experiencing depression. Importantly, remaining around 77% of the patients either did not improve, had limited improvement or deteriorated. This is an astounding finding. The outcome for anxiety intervention were similar. Around 60% showed no or limited improvement. A further 2.6% showed deterioration in their anxiety symptoms. That leaves only 32.3% who either benefited from the therapy or had a gradual benefit.
Furthermore, belonging to an ethnic minority group (global majority) in the UK context leads to poorer outcome in these individuals compared to white ethnic group individuals. These individuals had higher chances of deterioration [Odd ratio OR (95% CI) 2.71 (1.23–5.96)] or having limited improvement OR (95% CI ) 4.91 (1.43–16.89). These findings indicate psychological therapy service provisions for such individuals and groups are either inadequately resourced or lack the specific training required to manage psychological issues that fall outside of normative behavioural frameworks.
Concerning indeed.
Figures produced here are based on the data provided in the paper.
