UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Demographic and psychological predictors of alcohol use and misuse in autistic adults

Bowri, M; Hull, L; Allison, C; Smith, P; Baron-Cohen, S; Lai, M-C; Mandy, W; (2021) Demographic and psychological predictors of alcohol use and misuse in autistic adults. Autism , 25 (5) pp. 1469-1480. 10.1177/1362361321992668. Green open access

[thumbnail of 1362361321992668.pdf]
Preview
Text
1362361321992668.pdf - Published Version

Download (258kB) | Preview

Abstract

Alcohol use and misuse are associated with a variety of negative physical, psychological and social consequences. The limited existing research on substance use including alcohol use in autistic adults has yielded mixed findings, with some studies concluding that autism reduces the likelihood of substance use and others suggesting that autism may increase an individual's risk for substance misuse. This study investigated demographic and psychological predictors of alcohol use and misuse in a sample of 237 autistic adults. An online survey was used to obtain data on demographic information, autistic traits, depression, generalised anxiety, social anxiety, mental well-being, social camouflaging and alcohol use. The sample was divided into three groups (non-drinkers, non-hazardous drinkers and hazardous drinkers) in order to investigate associations between alcohol use and demographic factors, autistic traits, mental health variables and social camouflaging. Our results demonstrated a U-shaped pattern among autistic adults, with non-drinkers and hazardous drinkers scoring higher than non-hazardous drinkers on levels of autistic traits, depression, generalised anxiety and social anxiety. Autistic non-drinkers were less likely to be male and had more autistic traits. Gender and level of autistic traits may be the most significant factors in predicting alcohol use in the autistic community.

Type: Article
Title: Demographic and psychological predictors of alcohol use and misuse in autistic adults
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/1362361321992668
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1362361321992668
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 by The National Autistic Society, SAGE Publications. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: adult outcomes, adults, alcohol use, autism spectrum disorders, substance misuse
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10131095
Downloads since deposit
31Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item