Predictors of quality of life for autistic adults

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Mason, D., McConachie, H., Garland, D., Petrou, A., Rodgers, J., & Parr, J. R. (2018). Predictors of quality of life for autistic adults. Autism Research, 11(8), 1138-1147. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1965

Journal or book title
Autism Research
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
11
Issue
8
Pages
1138-1147
Publication date: 7 May 2018 Added to AutiHub: 18 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
6
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 6 (16.7%)
  1. David Mason *
  2. Helen McConachie
  3. Deborah Garland
  1. Alex Petrou
  2. Jacqui Rodgers
  3. Jeremy R. Parr

Abstract

Abstract Research with adults on the autism spectrum is as yet limited in scope and quality. The present study describes quality of life (QoL) of a large sample of autistic adults in the UK and investigates characteristics that may be predictive of QoL. A total of 370 autistic adults from the Adult Autism Spectrum Cohort‐UK (ASC‐UK) completed the WHOQoL‐BREF, and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS, autism symptom severity), along with the ASC‐UK registration questionnaire giving information on mental health and their life situation. QoL for autistic adults was lower than for the general population for each WHOQoL domain. Younger participants reported higher QoL than older participants in psychological and environment domains. Males reported higher physical QoL than females, and females reported higher social QoL than males. Significant positive predictors of QoL were: being employed (physical QoL), receiving support (social and environment QoL), and being in a relationship (social QoL). Having a mental health condition and higher SRS total score were negative predictors of QoL across all four domains. Autistic adults require access to effective mental health interventions, and informal and formal support for their social difficulties, to improve their quality of life. Autism Res 2018, 11: 1138–1147. © 2018 The Authors Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay summary There has been limited research into the lived experience of autistic adults. Using the World Health Organization quality of life measure, we found that autistic people (370) in the UK reported their quality of life to be lower than that of the general population. Better quality of life was associated with being in a relationship; those with a mental health condition had poorer quality of life. This research suggests some ways in which autistic people can be helped to improve their quality of life.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 3 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
47
With a DOI
44
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
3 / 47 (6.4%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 47 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
47 / 47 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
169
From DOI or external metadata
169
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
52 / 169 (30.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 117 / 169 (69.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
3 / 169 (1.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 3 / 52 (5.8%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 2 / 144 (1.4%).
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