title: Self-regulation and quality of life in high-functioning young adults with autism.
abstract: Autism is generally associated with poor functional outcome but little is known about predictors of quality of life, especially during early adulthood. This study was conducted to assess subjective quality of life during early adulthood in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and its relation with self-regulating abilities. Individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder who progressed into post-secondary higher education ( N = 75) were compared to a typical peer control group ( N = 28) based on behavioral self-report questionnaires. The results indicated that individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder reported significantly lower subjective quality of life than typical controls ( p < 0.001, effect size ( d) = 1.84). In addition, individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder reported more problems with emotion processing ( p < 0.05, effect size ( d) = 0.79) and daily executive functioning ( p < 0.001, effect size ( d) = 1.29) than controls. A higher level of executive functioning problems was related to lower quality of life in the high-functioning autism spectrum disorder group, but no significant relation between level of emotion processing and subjective quality of life became apparent in the regression analysis. Our findings show that even in high-functioning young adults with autism, executive functioning, emotion processing, and subjective quality of life are low compared to typically developing peers. Furthermore, these results emphasize the importance of targeting executive functioning problems in individuals with autism to improve subjective quality of life.
authors.affiliation: 1 Leiden University, The Netherlands.|2 Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Renee R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Dijkhuis
authors.affiliation: 1 Leiden University, The Netherlands.|2 Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tim B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ziermans
authors.affiliation: 1 Leiden University, The Netherlands.|2 Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Rijn
authors.affiliation: 3 Karakter Universitair Centrum, The Netherlands.|4 Radboud Universitair Medisch Centrum, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wouter G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Staal
authors.affiliation: 1 Leiden University, The Netherlands.|2 Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Swaab
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D000068356:Self-Control / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: autism spectrum disorders; emotion processing; executive functioning; high-functioning; self-regulation; subjective quality of life; young adults