Autonomy, Dependency, and the Attainment of Developmental Tasks In the Third Decade of Life Among Young Adults with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions

Background:  The last two decades has seen a continuous increase in the prevalence of High Functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions (HFASC). However, besides descriptive statistics regarding vocational and accommodation aspects, little is known about the nature of adult life for individuals with HFASC, let alone of their own perspective of adult life, their self-perception as autonomous adults, and the challenges they face struggling between autonomy and dependency.

Objectives: This study employed qualitative and quantitative methods to explore themes of perceived autonomy and dependency manifested by young adults with HFASC, in comparison to young adults from the general population. In particular, we focused on the young adults’ relationships with their parents and the association of these relationships to the young adults' attainment of developmental tasks in the third decade of life.

Methods:  A group of 16 young adults with HFASD (12m, 4f) and a group of 24 adults from the general population (18m, 6f) were matched on age, sex, and educational level. Participants were individually interviewed using semi-structured interviews on their personal experience of entering adulthood and its relation to their relationships with both their parents. Interviews were transcribed and scored by two independent judges. Scores were grouped into two factors: autonomy level and relationship quality. In addition, participants' mothers and fathers filled in a questionnaire evaluating 3 factors of their relationships with their son/daughter: autonomy, dependence, and oppositional behavior. Participants at the HFASC group alone filled in a questionnaire assessing their attainment of developmental tasks in the third decade of life.

Results:  Over all, young adults with HFASC perceived themselves as less autonomous and as having poorer relationships with their parents, compared to controls. Parents of adults with HFASC described their son/daughters as less autonomous and more dependent than parents of controls.

Relationships with the mother were affected in particular, as individuals in the HFASC group viewed the quality of relationships with their mothers to be lower than that of controls, and mothers in the HFASC group perceived their son/daughter as more oppositional, compared to mothers of controls. There were no such differences for fathers.

In the HFASC group, adults’ perceived quality of relationships with the father was negatively correlated to their perceived quality of relationships with the mother, and positively correlated to their perceived autonomy in their relationships with the mother. Mothers' reported level of their son/daughter's autonomy was marginally correlated with the son/daughter's attainment of developmental tasks in the third decade of life.

Themes describing the unique coping of adults with HFASC with autonomy and dependency issues in the third decade of life, as manifested in their interviews, will be discussed and demonstrated.

Conclusions:  This study offers a closer perspective on young adults' with HFASC coping with the challenges of individuation and autonomy in their third decade of life. In particular, it indicates their use of splitting in relationships and their need for empowerment of their autonomous self by their parents. Future research directions and implications for intervention will be discussed.