Painted with different brushes—An exploratory study of psychological well-being and attitudes towards autism perceived by adolescents with autism spectrum conditions and their mothers
Kinga Ferenc, Katarzyna Byrka, Magdalena Ewa Król
Abstract
Given the high prevalence of mental health comorbidities in autism spectrum conditions, the psychological well-being is one of the most pertinent issues in autism research, but it is encumbered with difficulties regarding its assessment in the ASC population and understanding the causes behind the increased risk of problems. This study aimed to explore the subjective assessment of psychological well-being in adolescents with ASC – whether it differs from the reports of their caregivers and which factors may be important in shaping it. Specifically, we hypothesized that different ways of perceiving autism – as a disorder or as a neurodivergence – may contribute to the way autistic adolescents feel about their own well-being. We tested 27 dyads of adolescents with ASC and normal intellectual ability; and their mothers. We assessed the child’s depressive symptoms and attitudes towards autism; we controlled the child’s IQ and autism severity (by ADOS-2). We found large discrepancies between adolescent’s and mother’s reports of adolescent’s depressive symptoms and their predictors. Higher maternal distress and lower autism severity predicted an increased level of depressive symptoms in the child, only in the mother’s report. Attitude towards autism was not a significant factor in predicting the child’s depressive symptoms, but it leaned toward significance in the child’s self-assessment. Given the differences between adolescents and maternal perspectives, the subjective experiences of adolescents with ASC should be taken into account to a greater extent. It is worth exploring whether adolescents with ASC might benefit from perceiving autism as a neurodivergence.