Social Support and Links to Quality of Life among Middle-Aged and Older Autistic Adults

Autor/inn/en	Charlton, Rebecca A.; McQuaid, Goldie A.; Wallace, Gregory L.
Titel	Social Support and Links to Quality of Life among Middle-Aged and Older Autistic Adults
Quelle	In: Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 27 (2023) 1, S.92-104 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Charlton, Rebecca A.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1362-3613
DOI	10.1177/13623613221081917
Schlagwörter	Social Support Groups; Quality of Life; Older Adults; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Depression (Psychology); Anxiety; Models; Correlation; Aging (Individuals); Physical Health; Individual Characteristics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Social support; Soziale Unterstützung; Lebensqualität; Älterer Erwachsener; Autism; Autismus; Angst; Analogiemodell; Korrelation; Aging; Altern; Gesundheitszustand; Personality characteristic; Personality traits; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal
Abstract	Social support has a positive impact on quality of life (QoL) in neurotypical older adults and young autistic adults, but the association for older autistic adults is unclear. Autistic adults (n = 388; mean age = 40-83 years) were recruited via Simons Powering Autism Research for Knowledge (SPARK) Research Match. Participants completed questionnaires online querying demographic information, depression, and anxiety symptomatology, QoL (physical, psychological, social, environmental, and autism-specific) and social support (instrumental, subjective, and social interactions). Regression analyses examined whether different aspects of social support contributed to models explaining each domain of QoL. Models explaining QoL were significant. Subjective social support significantly contributed to the models for all aspects of QoL; social interactions contributed to the models for Physical and Psychological QoL, whereas instrumental support contributed to models for social, environmental and autism-specific QoL. Social support is an important contributor to the QoL of middle-aged and older autistic adults, after accounting for demographic factors and depression. Further studies are required to understand whether age-related changes in social support and QoL are the same for autistic as non-autistic older adults in order to identify and implement appropriate support. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01