Social Support and Links to Quality of Life Among Middle and Older Age Autistic Adults

Social support has a positive impact on quality of life (QoL) in neurotypical older adults and young autistic adults, but the association for older autistic adults is unclear. Autistic adults (n=388; mean age=40-83 years) were recruited via Simons Powering Autism Research for Knowledge research match. Participants completed questionnaires online querying demographic information, depression and anxiety symptomatology, QoL (Physical, Psychological, Social, Environmental, Autism-specific) and social support (instrumental, subjective and social interactions). Regression analyses examined whether different aspects of social support explained the variance in each domain of QoL. A significant proportion of the variance (36-58%) in QoL was explained. Subjective social support significantly contributed to the models for all aspects of QoL; Physical and Psychological QoL were also explained by social interactions, whereas Social, Environmental and Autism-specific QoL were additionally explained by instrumental support. Social support is an important contributor to the QoL of middle-aged and older autistic adults, after accounting for demographic factors and depression. Further studies are required to understand whether age-related changes in social support and QoL are the same for autistic as non-autistic older adults in order to identify and implement appropriate support.