Protective factors against the emotional impact of the pandemic in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID)

• Published in: Scientific reports 2024-02, Vol.14 (1), p.4341-4341, Article 4341
• Main Authors: Jodra, Marina, García-Villamisar, Domingo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/477/2811; 692/1807/2781; Adult; Adults; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - epidemiology; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Autism spectrum disorders; Communication; Emotional impact; Emotions; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Intellectual disabilities; Intellectual disability; Intellectual Disability - epidemiology; Intellectual Disability - psychology; multidisciplinary; Multiple regression analysis; Pandemic; Pandemics; Population studies; Protective Factors; Quality of Life; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Well being
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55049-x

The pandemic has had very negative effects on the mental health of the population, especially in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). We analyzed whether social communication, quality of life, and anxiety explain changes in the emotional impact of the pandemic in 60 adults with ASD and ID. Correlations between the study variables were analyzed and subsequently a multiple regression analysis was performed. The results show that communication writing, leisure and well-being index, explain 31% of the dependent variable. The well-being index (PWI) contributes significantly to improving the fit of the model, as indicated by β value. The remaining variables, communication writing and leisure socialization, do not contributed significantly to improving the fit of the model. Quality of life is the only variable that can explain changes in the emotional impact of the pandemic in the study population. This finding should guide future psychoeducational interventions and services for adults.