The role of social drivers of health in communication abilities of autistic adolescents and young adults / Teresa GIROLAMO in Autism, 30-2 (February 2026)  

Public ISBD [article]  inAutism > 30-2 (February 2026) . - p.329-345 Titre : The role of social drivers of health in communication abilities of autistic adolescents and young adults Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Teresa GIROLAMO, Auteur ; Alicia ESCOBEDO, Auteur ; Lindsay BUTLER, Auteur ; Caroline A. LARSON, Auteur ; Iván CAMPOS, Auteur ; Kyle GREENE-PENDELTON, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.329-345 Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : adolescents  adults  autism spectrum disorders  communication and language  environmental factors Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Despite their relevance to outcomes in autism, little is known about how social drivers of health affect communication, especially in transition-aged autistic adolescents and young adults with structural language impairment. This knowledge gap limits our understanding of developmental trajectories and the ability to develop supports. This cross-sectional study examined the role of social drivers of health in the communication abilities of autistic individuals ages 13–30. Participants (N = 73) completed language, nonverbal cognitive assessments, and social drivers of health (sense of community, unmet services, barriers to services) measures. Data were analyzed descriptively and using mixed-effects modeling. More unmet service needs, more barriers to services, and a lower sense of community were associated with greater social communication impairment. In turn, both unmet service needs and barriers to services were negatively associated with functional communication. In regression modeling, language scores contributed to functional communication, and sense of community to social communication impairment. Findings support the relevance of language and social drivers of health in communication. Future work should focus on possible bidirectional relationships between these variables and explore and real-world translation.Lay Abstract Where people live, work, and spend their time is important. Environments can have more or less services or differ in how much they help people feel like they belong to their community. These parts of the environment are called social drivers of health. Social drivers of health are important for outcomes in autism, but we do not know much about them in autistic teens or young adults. We recruited 73 autistic teens and young adults (ages 13–30 years) and 52 caregivers to our study. Autistic teens and young adults did language and NVIQ tests on Zoom. Autistic teens, young adults, and caregivers also answered questionnaires. Sense of community was important for social communication impairment, and language was important for real-world communication. These findings tell us two things. First, thinking about how to create supportive communication environments for autistic teens and adults is important. Second, understanding how social drivers of health shape outcomes is important. In the future, we should focus on how improving environments can help autistic teens and adults meet their communication goals. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613251380448 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=578 [article] The role of social drivers of health in communication abilities of autistic adolescents and young adults [texte imprimé] / Teresa GIROLAMO, Auteur ; Alicia ESCOBEDO, Auteur ; Lindsay BUTLER, Auteur ; Caroline A. LARSON, Auteur ; Iván CAMPOS, Auteur ; Kyle GREENE-PENDELTON, Auteur . - p.329-345. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Autism > 30-2 (February 2026) . - p.329-345 Mots-clés : adolescents  adults  autism spectrum disorders  communication and language  environmental factors Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Despite their relevance to outcomes in autism, little is known about how social drivers of health affect communication, especially in transition-aged autistic adolescents and young adults with structural language impairment. This knowledge gap limits our understanding of developmental trajectories and the ability to develop supports. This cross-sectional study examined the role of social drivers of health in the communication abilities of autistic individuals ages 13–30. Participants (N = 73) completed language, nonverbal cognitive assessments, and social drivers of health (sense of community, unmet services, barriers to services) measures. Data were analyzed descriptively and using mixed-effects modeling. More unmet service needs, more barriers to services, and a lower sense of community were associated with greater social communication impairment. In turn, both unmet service needs and barriers to services were negatively associated with functional communication. In regression modeling, language scores contributed to functional communication, and sense of community to social communication impairment. Findings support the relevance of language and social drivers of health in communication. Future work should focus on possible bidirectional relationships between these variables and explore and real-world translation.Lay Abstract Where people live, work, and spend their time is important. Environments can have more or less services or differ in how much they help people feel like they belong to their community. These parts of the environment are called social drivers of health. Social drivers of health are important for outcomes in autism, but we do not know much about them in autistic teens or young adults. We recruited 73 autistic teens and young adults (ages 13–30 years) and 52 caregivers to our study. Autistic teens and young adults did language and NVIQ tests on Zoom. Autistic teens, young adults, and caregivers also answered questionnaires. Sense of community was important for social communication impairment, and language was important for real-world communication. These findings tell us two things. First, thinking about how to create supportive communication environments for autistic teens and adults is important. Second, understanding how social drivers of health shape outcomes is important. In the future, we should focus on how improving environments can help autistic teens and adults meet their communication goals. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13623613251380448 Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=578

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