Principal Investigator(s):
Elodie Carel
Grant Type:
Graduate Research
Funding:
1795.39
Organization:
The University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Year Awarded:
2025
Status:
In Progress
Location:
Amherst, MA
Topics:
Families; Health and Sensory Issues
Abstract
Autistic adolescents, on average, experience disproportionately poor quality of life compared to non-autistic adolescents. To date, much of the inquiry on this topic has focused on how individual factors, including level of autistic traits, are associated with quality of life, with little attention paid to the role of the social environment. However, the small body of evidence that does consider social factors has found a potentially mechanistic relationship between autistic traits and the social environment on quality of life in autistic people. Additionally, self-report measures of quality of life have been validated in autistic adolescents, and the Autism Spectrum Quality of Life measure exists to quantify quality of life for autistic adults. Yet, no autism-specific measure of quality of life has risen to prominence for adolescents. The present investigation seeks to better understand how autistic adolescents experience autism-specific aspects of quality of life as well as how the social environment may explain the established relationship between autistic traits and quality of life. Results of this study can provide practical and relevant insights into how autistic adolescents report on autism-specific elements of quality of life and the role of the social environment as a potential mechanism by which quality of life can be improved. These findings hold the potential to provide valuable insights into how autistic adolescents experience quality of life, which, in turn, can provide much-needed information on how to improve quality of life for this population.
