What Are You Worried About? Content and Extent of Worry in Autistic Adults.
Melissa H Black, Dana L Greenwood, Jerome Choo Chen Hwa and 3 others
PMID 36988767WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults reported significantly higher levels of worry than non-autistic adults across all domains.
Interviews revealed this worry often centers on social missteps and uncertainty, impacting daily functioning and independence in ways standard questionnaires may miss.
Key findings
01Autistic adults demonstrated significantly greater levels of worry than non-autistic adults on all three worry questionnaires used.
02Qualitative interviews identified that autistic adults worry specifically about social missteps and uncertainty, themes not fully captured by the quantitative questionnaires.
03Worry was reported to substantially affect participants' ability to participate in daily life, including tasks like cooking, attending appointments, and maintaining independence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have elevated worry levels in both groups and skewed results. Participants were recruited from the community and required proficient English and no intellectual disability, limiting generalizability to the broader autistic population. The worry questionnaires used (PSWQ, WDQ, DWQ) have not been validated for use with autistic adults, so it is unclear if participants interpreted questions as intended. Self-diagnosed autistic individuals were included, which may affect the certainty of the autism diagnosis for some participants.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Karolinska Institute. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that standard anxiety assessments fully capture the worry experiences of autistic adults. The study found that autistic adults reported unique worries about social missteps and uncertainty that were not adequately covered by the questionnaires, suggesting that clinical assessment should include open-ended discussion about specific autistic experiences.