Sociocultural context and autistics' quality of life: A comparison between Québec and France.

The sample was recruited through social media and personal networks, not a random population sample, so it may not represent autistic adults more broadly. Many people opened the survey but did not finish; 62% of incomplete questionnaires were abandoned before the end of the first part. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that any factor caused higher or lower quality of life. The ASQoL measures autism-specific quality of life, not overall quality of life. The AQ10 had poor internal consistency in this sample (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.60). Some associations could not be tested because too few respondents had certain conditions. The models explained only part of the variance, so other unmeasured factors likely matter. The difference between Quebec and France may be partly amplified by differences between the groups. Perceived violence was measured as the person's perception, not as an objective assessment of experienced stigmatization.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding came from the Research Centre of CIUSSS Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal and Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé. Three autistic expert collaborators were paid for their time and were involved in survey design, recruitment, coding and analysis.

Do not read the higher Quebec scores as proof that Quebec causes better quality of life. This was a cross-sectional self-report survey, so it shows associations at one time, not cause and effect.