Moser Carly, Smith DaWalt Leann, Burke Meghan M, Taylor Julie Lounds
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Autism. 2025 Jul;29(7):1807-1818. doi: 10.1177/13623613251327347. Epub 2025 Mar 25.
Compared to their nonautistic peers, lower levels of life satisfaction have been reported by autistic individuals. It is unclear, however, whether autistic individuals with intellectual disability report similar levels of life satisfaction as autistic individuals without intellectual disability or which characteristics are associated with life satisfaction. This study sought to examine differences in levels of self-reported life satisfaction across those with and without intellectual disability and explore correlates of life satisfaction in a sample of 35 autistic youth with intellectual disability and 99 autistic youth without intellectual disability. No difference in self-reported life satisfaction was detected between autistic youth with and without intellectual disability. Greater self-reported life satisfaction was associated with higher self-determination for autistic youth without intellectual disability. For autistic youth with intellectual disability, greater self-reported life satisfaction was related to more frequent social participation, lower parent stress, and fewer unmet service needs. Unmet service needs and parent stress were significantly stronger correlates of life satisfaction for youth with intellectual disability compared to youth without intellectual disability. Although the sample size of autistic youth with intellectual disability was small, these findings suggest the importance of considering heterogeneity among individuals on the autism spectrum when seeking to understand their well-being.Lay abstractAutistic people report lower life satisfaction compared to people without autism. It is unclear whether autistic people with intellectual disability report similar levels of life satisfaction to autistic people without intellectual disability. In this study, we did not find a difference in levels of life satisfaction for autistic youth with intellectual disability compared to autistic youth without intellectual disability. We also identified factors that might promote better life satisfaction. Higher self-determination was related to higher life satisfaction for autistic youth without intellectual disability. For autistic youth with intellectual disability, more frequent social participation, lower parent stress, and fewer unmet service needs were associated with higher life satisfaction. Unmet service needs and parent stress were more strongly related to life satisfaction for youth with intellectual disability compared to youth without intellectual disability. Our findings suggest that taking a more individualized approach to support the well-being of autistic youth is important.
与非自闭症同龄人相比，自闭症个体的生活满意度较低。然而，目前尚不清楚有智力障碍的自闭症个体与没有智力障碍的自闭症个体的生活满意度水平是否相似，或者哪些特征与生活满意度相关。本研究旨在调查有智力障碍和无智力障碍的自闭症个体自我报告的生活满意度水平差异，并在35名有智力障碍的自闭症青少年和99名无智力障碍的自闭症青少年样本中探索生活满意度的相关因素。有智力障碍和无智力障碍的自闭症青少年在自我报告的生活满意度方面未发现差异。对于无智力障碍的自闭症青少年，更高的自我报告生活满意度与更高的自主决定权相关。对于有智力障碍的自闭症青少年，更高的自我报告生活满意度与更频繁的社会参与、更低的父母压力以及未满足的服务需求较少有关。与无智力障碍的青少年相比，未满足的服务需求和父母压力与有智力障碍的青少年的生活满意度的相关性更强。尽管有智力障碍的自闭症青少年样本量较小，但这些发现表明，在试图了解自闭症谱系个体的幸福感时，考虑个体间的异质性很重要。
与非自闭症患者相比，自闭症患者报告的生活满意度较低。尚不清楚有智力障碍的自闭症患者与没有智力障碍的自闭症患者的生活满意度水平是否相似。在本研究中，我们没有发现有智力障碍的自闭症青少年与无智力障碍的自闭症青少年在生活满意度水平上存在差异。我们还确定了可能促进更高生活满意度的因素。对于无智力障碍的自闭症青少年，更高的自主决定权与更高的生活满意度相关。对于有智力障碍的自闭症青少年，更频繁的社会参与、更低的父母压力以及未满足的服务需求较少与更高的生活满意度相关。与无智力障碍的青少年相比，未满足的服务需求和父母压力与有智力障碍的青少年的生活满意度的相关性更强。我们的研究结果表明，采取更个性化的方法来支持自闭症青少年的幸福感很重要。
