Autism in higher education : an investigation of quality of life

An increasing number of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enter higher education each year. Researchers from Leiden University collaborated with Stumass (JADOS) to identify factors that are important for the quality of life of these young adults. The extent to which a student with ASD feels able to show flexible behavior, self-monitor one’s own social behavior, and plan and organize daily activities proved important for satisfaction and study success in daily life. Our research showed that emotional awareness and the ability to use one's own emotions as a means of navigation in daily functioning are less well developed in young adults with ASD. The ability to regulate emotions contributes to adaptive behavior in social situations, and to the perceived quality of life. In addition, it was found that for many students with ASD, the autonomic nervous system is less adaptive in response to socially meaningful information, compared to their typically developing peers. This can have consequences for the experience of social situations. The results described in this thesis emphasize the importance of developing interventions that strengthen executive functioning and emotion regulation in this group of young adults with ASD. Supporting self-regulation could improve quality of life for students with ASD.This study is funded by the scientific board of Stumass (JADOS), supporting research in autism.Development Psychopathology in context: clinical setting

Social Attention and Emotional Responsiveness in Young Adults With Autism

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Self-regulation and quality of life in high-functioning young adults with autism

Contains fulltext : 177940.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: 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

Emotional Arousal During Social Stress in Young Adults With Autism: Insights From Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability and Self-Report

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