Background: Studies of positive psychology and emotional well-being have broadened our understanding of mental health. However, mental health research involving autistic adults has been largely deficit-focused. Few studies have examined well-being using established positive psychological frameworks.
Methods: This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the PERMA Profiler, a 23-item questionnaire that measures well-being across five subscales (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment), in a sample of 517 autistic adults ages 18-84 years ( = 39.5, standard deviation [SD] = 13.3). Reliability (internal consistency), structural validity (via confirmatory factor analysis including bifactor modeling), and concurrent validity were examined.
Results: The PERMA Profiler mean (SD) well-being score was 5.4 (SD = 1.7), which is notably lower than the mean of 7.0 previously found in nonautistic samples. Subscale scores were highest for Engagement ( = 6.8; SD = 1.9), followed by Accomplishment ( = 5.6; SD = 2.2), Relationships ( = 5.2; SD = 2.6), Meaning ( = 5.2; SD = 2.7), and Positive emotion ( = 5.0; SD = 2.4). Factor analyses revealed strong psychometrics (Cronbach's = 0.93; Comparative Fit Index = 0.94; Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.97; root mean square error of approximation = 0.08; standardized root mean residual = 0.05) and superior fit of the bifactor model, supporting a general factor for conceptualizing well-being as opposed to a five-factor model. PERMA well-being and subscale scores were significantly correlated ( < 0.001) with mental health conditions and life satisfaction.
Conclusion: These findings support use of an adapted version of the PERMA Profiler in mental health research to evaluate well-being among autistic adults. Similar to studies with nonautistic populations, the Engagement measure may not capture the experiences of the autistic population and further refinement is needed. Follow-up research should represent a more diverse autistic population, collaborate with autistic coinvestigators, and explore potential correlates of well-being (such as social stigma) while using the PERMA Profiler.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0049 | DOI Listing |
J Autism Dev Disord
January 2025
Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Women & Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social affective engagement. The present study uses a mild social stressor task to add to inconclusive past literature concerning differences in affective expressivity between autistic young adults and non-autistic individuals from the general population (GP). Young adults (mean age = 21.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics and Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a severe congenital heart disease associated with microcephaly and poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. Here we show that the Ohia HLHS mouse model, with mutations in Sap130, a chromatin modifier, and Pcdha9, a cell adhesion protein, also exhibits microcephaly associated with mitotic block and increased apoptosis leading to impaired cortical neurogenesis. Transcriptome profiling, DNA methylation, and Sap130 ChIPseq analyses all demonstrate dysregulation of genes associated with autism and cognitive impairment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutism
January 2025
UniDistance Suisse, Switzerland.
We know that many autistic children, youth, and adults experience difficulties regulating emotions. Existing research has focused mainly on the differences in emotion regulation capabilities between autistic and non-autistic individuals, the relationships between autistic traits and emotion regulation, and how emotion regulation relates to other outcomes, such as social skills and mental health.We want to take a new approach to review the existing emotion regulation research through the lens of a specific theoretical model: the extended process model of emotion regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubst Use Misuse
January 2025
Department of Psychological Sciences, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA.
Background: Prior research suggests that individuals reporting autistic traits are at heightened risk for alcohol dependence once they begin drinking; thus, examining factors that may lead to problematic drinking in this population is imperative. Neurotypical college students higher in autistic traits tend to have more social anxiety, more challenges with social skills and communication, and weaker social adjustment than those lower in autistic traits, which are risk factors for problematic alcohol use.
Objectives: The present study sought to assess whether university students with more autistic traits would report greater alcohol-related negative consequences, and whether this association would be indirectly influenced by social anxiety, emotion regulation, and drinking to cope.
Sensors (Basel)
December 2024
Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication. While many studies suggest that individuals with ASD struggle with emotion processing, the association between emotion processing and autistic traits in non-clinical populations is still unclear. We examine whether neurotypical adults' facial emotion recognition and expression imitation are associated with autistic traits.
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