The Friendship Questionnaire, autism, and gender differences: a study revisited.
Felicity Sedgewick, Jenni Leppanen, Kate Tchanturia
PMID 31798817WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults rated their general friendships lower than non-autistic adults, but those with a partner or best friend rated that close relationship as highly as non-autistic people.
Gender matters: autistic non-binary adults reported the highest friendship quality.
Key findings
01Autistic adults scored lower on the Friendship Questionnaire than non-autistic adults, indicating lower general friendship quality.
02Autistic adults who nominated a married or live-in partner rated that relationship's closeness no differently than non-autistic adults.
03Autistic non-binary adults scored higher on the Friendship Questionnaire than autistic men and women.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
All data were self-reported, including autism diagnoses, with no independent verification. The sample was heavily skewed towards women and autistic participants, with very few non-autistic non-binary individuals, limiting generalisability for those groups. The Friendship Questionnaire may bias against autistic social styles by valuing broader networks over fewer, closer ties. Age and employment status differed significantly between groups and were not controlled for in the main analyses.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lower Friendship Questionnaire scores as evidence that autistic adults have poor relationships overall. The study shows that when a specific close relationship (like a marriage) is rated, autistic adults report closeness equal to non-autistic adults, suggesting the FQ may measure network breadth rather than relationship depth.