Evaluating measures to assess loneliness in autistic adults.

The participants were recruited online and may not represent the whole autistic population; 90.1% were White and 69% had university qualifications. There was no comparison group in the study, so comparisons with general population loneliness scores are not part of the primary data. Participants may have self-selected because they were interested in or aware of loneliness, which could make them lonelier than the broader autistic population. Only the UCLA scale and SELSA were evaluated, so the findings may not apply to other loneliness measures. Preference for one scale was not asked directly; only 32 participants spontaneously stated a preference. Because the survey was online and required written responses, it may not capture the experiences of autistic adults who use sign language or communication devices.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research, authorship or publication.

Do not conclude that the UCLA and SELSA measures are fully suitable for autistic adults because their scores correlated with the direct measure. The same participants said the items assumed non-autistic norms, missed online, pet or professional relationships, and had unclear wording, so absolute scores may overestimate or underestimate loneliness.