Self-Report Measurement of Well-Being in Autistic Adults: Psychometric Properties of the PERMA Profiler.
Luke P Grosvenor, Cheryl L Errichetti, Calliope Holingue and 2 others
PMID 38116049WHAT IT FOUND
The PERMA Profiler reliably measures overall well-being in autistic adults, but its five separate subscales are not distinct.
Clinicians should use the total score rather than individual domain scores. The measure works well for this group, though the Engagement subscale is weaker.
Key findings
01The PERMA Profiler demonstrates strong reliability and validity for measuring overall well-being in autistic adults, supporting its use as a self-report tool.
02Well-being in autistic adults is best understood as a single overall construct rather than five separate pillars, meaning subscale scores do not add independent information.
03The Engagement subscale showed weaker psychometric properties compared to other domains, suggesting caution when interpreting specific engagement scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was not representative of the broader autistic population, being predominantly White (84.6%), highly educated (82.0% with at least some college), and non-Hispanic. Participants self-reported their autism diagnoses, which may affect diagnostic validity, though previous studies show high concordance for self-reports. Data collection occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have influenced well-being scores and the interpretation of social or engagement-related items. The study did not include a non-autistic comparison group, so differences in scores cannot be definitively attributed to autism versus other factors. Content validity was not formally evaluated with autistic adults, so the measure may not fully capture autistic-specific constructs of well-being.
Declared interests
The study was approved by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Institutional Review Board. Participants were entered into a raffle for gift cards. No specific commercial conflicts of interest were reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use the five individual PERMA subscale scores (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment) to make specific clinical decisions. The analysis showed that these subscales do not contribute unique information independent of the overall well-being score. Use the total score instead.