Study summary
Could supporting self-determination help Autistic adults improve their quality…
Full title: Could supporting self-determination help Autistic adults improve their quality of life?
This is a summary of the latest paper by PhD candidate Helen Andrews – “The Relationship Between Autistic Traits and Quality of Life: Investigation of Indirect Effects Through Self-Determination“. This paper was the outcome of their honours project, supervised by Dr Simon Bury and Associate Professor Darren Hedley.
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Research question
Does self-determination explain why people with higher Autistic traits report lower quality of life than people with lower Autistic traits?
Hypotheses
- People with high Autistic traits will score lower on quality of life.
- People with high Autistic traits will score lower on self-determination.
- Self-determination will mediate the relationship between Autistic traits and quality of life.
Take away messages
Supporting satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness (self-determination) may represent an important factor in designing effective programs to support the development of self-determination in people with higher levels of Autistic traits. This may flow on to improve their quality of life.
- People who have higher Autistic traits tend to have lower levels of perceived self- determination and quality of life
- Executive functioning is a significant predictor of self-determination and may be a factor underlying the relationship between Autistic traits and quality of life
- Self-determination mediates the effect of Autistic traits on environmental, physical and psychological quality of life but only partially mediates social quality of life
- The need for competence may have an important role in achieving better quality of live outcomes for people with high levels of Autistic traits.
What did participants do?
Participants from across the world filled in an online survey in 2020 via Prolific including:
- Demographics
- Autistic traits (AQ-Short)
- Autism diagnosis and identity
- Executive functioning (The Adult Temperament Questionnaire, Short–Effortful Control subscale)
- COVID-19 pandemic impact
- Self-determination (The Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction–General instrument) subscales – satisfaction with:
- Autonomy – feeling able to make choices free from internal or external pressure
- Competence – feeling you have the skills to make those choices
- Relatedness – feeling a connection to others
- Quality of life (The WHOQOL–Brief) subscales:
- Psychological – e.g. bodily image and appearance, negative feelings, self- esteem, spirituality, thinking, learning, memory and concentration
- Social – e.g. personal relationships, social support, sexual activity
- Physical – e.g. activities of daily living, dependence on medical aids, energy and fatigue, mobility, pain and discomfort, work capacity
- Environmental – e.g. financial resources, physical safety and security, health and social care access, home environment, participation in recreation/leisure activities, transport
Analysis
In addition to correlational analyses for hypotheses 1 and 2, four regression analyses were undertaken to test hypothesis 3:
- Dependent variables – psychological, social, physical and environmental sub scales of the WHOQOL-BREF
- Independent variable – Autistic traits
- Parallel mediators – self-determination sub scales (autonomy, competence, relatedness)
- Covariates – effortful control (M = 4.44, SD = 0.71), age (M = 37.60, SD = 11.90), COVID-19 impact (M = 2.60, SD = 0.95)
Results
Hypothesis 1 – supported
Correlational analysis revealed that participants with higher Autistic traits (higher AQ- short scores) reported lower quality of life (scored lower on all sub scales of the WHOQOL–Brief).
Hypothesis 2 – supported
Correlational analysis revealed participants with higher Autistic traits (higher AQ-short scores) reported lower self-determination (scored lower on the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction–General instrument). Correlations reported below.
Hypothesis 3 – supported
Autistic traits and effortful control (executive function) were also significant predictors of satisfaction with all three subscales of the self-determination scale.
The slideshow below details the significant indirect effects of Autistic traits on four domains of quality of life (environmental, social, psychological, physical) through satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Only paths (β values) for significant indirect effects are shown.
Env = Environmental; Psyc = Psychological
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Researchers
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge and value the contribution of the participants who were kind enough to contribute to this study. This research was supported by a Sylvia Walton Honours Grant. Thank you to Helen Andrews for proofing this content for publication.
Authored by Alexandra Haschek (Research Analytics Officer) April 2024
You can get involved with the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre
La Trobe University is committed to supporting research that fulfils the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This article aligns with La Trobe University’s Healthy people, families and communities research theme, contributing to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal three – Good health and wellbeing – ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing at all ages.
