Girolamo Teresa, Escobedo Alicia, Butler Lindsay, Larson Caroline A, Campos Iván, Greene-Pendelton Kyle
San Diego State University.
University of Connecticut.
medRxiv. 2024 Jun 18:2024.06.17.24309053. doi: 10.1101/2024.06.17.24309053.
Despite their importance, little is known about how social drivers of health shape communicative outcomes in autism. Even less is known when considering the intersection of race and language impairment. An understanding of factors in communicative outcomes is key for characterizing developmental trajectories and informing supports. This cross-sectional observational study examined the role of social drivers of health in communicative outcomes of racially and ethnically minoritized autistic adolescents and adults. Participants ages 13 to 30 ( = 73) completed a behavioral assessment protocol, including language and nonverbal cognitive skills, as well as social drivers of health (sense of community, unmet services, barriers to services). Correlational analyses revealed associations between social drivers of health on social communication impairment and real-world communication. Generalized linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that language predicted real-world communication, but sense of community predicted social communication impairment. Findings point to the importance of assessing both individual differences and social drivers of health in outcomes in autism research. Future work should focus on social drivers of health in larger-scale analyses of outcomes in minoritized autistic individuals during the transition to adulthood, considering supports that align with service eligibility and person-centered outcomes.
尽管它们很重要，但对于健康的社会驱动因素如何塑造自闭症患者的交流结果，我们知之甚少。在考虑种族与语言障碍的交叉情况时，我们了解得更少。了解交流结果中的因素对于描述发展轨迹和提供支持至关重要。这项横断面观察性研究考察了健康的社会驱动因素在种族和族裔少数群体自闭症青少年和成年人交流结果中的作用。年龄在13至30岁之间（n = 73）的参与者完成了一项行为评估方案，包括语言和非语言认知技能，以及健康的社会驱动因素（社区感、未得到满足的服务、服务障碍）。相关分析揭示了健康的社会驱动因素与社会沟通障碍及现实世界沟通之间的关联。广义线性混合效应模型显示，语言预测现实世界沟通，但社区感预测社会沟通障碍。研究结果指出了在自闭症研究结果中评估个体差异和健康的社会驱动因素的重要性。未来的工作应在向成年过渡期间对少数群体自闭症个体的结果进行更大规模分析时，关注健康的社会驱动因素，同时考虑与服务资格和以个人为中心的结果相一致的支持。
