Background Neurominorities have one of the lowest employment rates among disabled groups. Broader work and health studies considering disability have shown adverse impacts of employment conditions on mental health of disabled workers; whereas research focusing on neurodivergent workers specifically have mainly focused on the positive mental health impacts of ad-hoc employment programmes. This study aims to examine the association between employment and mental health and wellbeing of neurodivergent compared to other disabled and non-disabled groups within the broader UK employment landscape.

Methods UK Biobank data from all adults of working age who competed the mental health sub-questionnaire were used. The analytical sample was grouped by those who reported (i) a neurodiversity (including autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and OCD), (ii) any ‘other disability’, or (iii) no disability. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to examine differences in employment and mental health and wellbeing as primary outcomes. Employment at baseline was coded as employed versus unemployed. Mental health and wellbeing outcomes included feelings of worry/anxiety (findings presented here), work/job satisfaction, loneliness/isolation, and financial situation satisfaction.

Results The final sample included 45,681 individuals (neurodivergent: 247, any ‘other disability’: 16,500; non-disabled: 28,934). Descriptive statistics showed an association both between the groups and employment status and feelings of worry/anxiety (p<0.001). For the LCA, the model with 3 latent classes was chosen based on BIC and AIC measures. Neurodivergent individuals had a 55% probability of being unemployed and suffering with worry/anxious feelings (class 3), and a 45% probability of being employed and suffering with worry/anxious feelings (class 1). The ‘other disabled’ group had a 60% probability of being in class 3, and the remaining were evenly spread between class 1 and class 2 (i.e. employed with no worry/anxious feeling). The non-disabled had a 40% probability of belonging to class 2, followed by a 35% probability of being in class 1.

Conclusion Our initial results show a higher prevalence of unemployed neurodivergent in line with national and international trends. Also, they support previous findings of poorer mental health outcomes experienced by this group. Future analyses will include comprehensive mental health indicators and employment trajectories, while accounting for socio demographic and economic factors, such as age, gender, occupation, urbanicity, disability allowance, education, and UK country of residence. The findings can inform policy and interventions on the importance of fostering employment levels for neurodivergent mental health and wellbeing.