Abstract
Background:
Autistic transition-age youths experienced unique psychosocial challenges in transitioning to postsecondary settings. These challenges may result from both the nature of autism and the developmental tasks associated with this unique developmental stage. Given the challenges and barriers faced by this population, understanding the relationship among factors in this transition period and developing relevant interventions are crucial. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between autism acceptance and coping strategies and understand how they impact the quality of life (QOL) of this population.
Method:
In total, 204 autistic youths aged 18–26 years recruited from Prolific and Amazon Mechanical Turk completed an online survey consisting of instruments measuring target variables. Two parallel mediation models were examined to explore the relationships between autism acceptance, coping, and QOL.
Results:
Both parallel mediation models showed good fit. In the first model, perceived acceptance had a significant direct effect on QOL (β = 0.512, p < 0.01) and a significant indirect effect through engagement coping (β = 0.059, p < 0.01). In the second model, the effects of self-acceptance on QOL were fully mediated by both engagement (β = 0.073, p < 0.01) and disengagement coping (β = 0.089, p < 0.01).
Conclusion:
Autism acceptance is a crucial psychosocial factor in impacting successful transition to postsecondary settings. Acceptance-based transition services should be developed for autistic youths to help them gain a comprehensive understanding of their relationship with self, others, and their autism.
Community Brief
Why is this an important issue?
Autistic youths, aged from 18 to 26 years, experience a lot of psychosocial challenges when transitioning to postsecondary education and employment. These challenges result from not only social interaction difficulties but also the overwhelming responsibilities to grow more independently at this developmental stage. Consequently, they often experience poor mental health and lower level of quality of life compared with their neurotypical peers. To help them achieve successful transition, it is imperative to help them better understand themselves as an autistic individual and their relationship with other people. Researchers have found that both autism acceptance and types of coping strategies used can predict better quality of life in separate studies. However, we don’t know whether autism acceptance can influence the selection of coping strategies or not.
What was the purpose of this study?
Our goal was to examine the relationship between autism acceptance, coping strategies, and quality of life. Specifically, we want to see in what ways autism acceptance and coping strategies interact with each other to impact quality of life of autistic transition-age youths.
What did the researchers do?
We asked 204 autistic youths living in the United States to complete online surveys. They answered questions about their level of autism acceptance. Autism acceptance has two aspects: (a) how they perceive other people to accept them as an autistic individual (perceived acceptance) and (b) how they accept themselves as an autistic individual (self-acceptance). They were also asked to report types of coping strategies they use and rate their quality of life. We hypothesized that autism acceptance affects quality of life not only in a direct manner but also indirectly through their selection of coping strategies.
What were the results of the study?
We found that when autistic youths feel more accepted by others, they report better quality of life. Also, if they have a higher level of perceived acceptance, they tend to use engagement coping strategies, such as self-advocacy, to deal with stress, leading to better quality of life. Furthermore, if autistic youths accept themselves more, they tend to use more engagement coping and less disengagement coping, such as concealment and camouflaging, leading to better quality of life.
What do these findings add to what was already known?
Our findings confirmed the importance of autism acceptance in helping autistic youths achieving better quality of life. Also, we showed, in a scientific way, how autism acceptance impact quality of life directly and indirectly through the selection of coping strategies.
What are potential weaknesses in the study?
Our study sample does not represent the entire autism spectrum and diverse ethnic backgrounds. Most of the participants were White with relatively high education levels. Also, the use of online platforms to collect data limits the representativeness.
How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?
These findings may help us better understand the role of autism acceptance in achieving better quality of life and inform the development of effective transition services for autistic youths.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.