Evaluating the Role of Autistic Traits, Social Anxiety, and Social Network Changes During Transition to First Year of University in Typically Developing Students and Students on the Autism Spectrum

Jiedi Lei; Mark Brosnan; Chris Ashwin; Ailsa Russell

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04391-w

Evaluating the Role of Autistic Traits, Social Anxiety, and Social Network Changes During Transition to First Year of University in Typically Developing Students and Students on the Autism Spectrum

Jiedi Lei, Mark Brosnan, Chris Ashwin, Ailsa Russell

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

This is the first longitudinal study to quantitatively evaluate changes in social network structure (SNS) and perceived social support (PSS) amongst first-year students on the autism spectrum (n = 21) and typically developing (TD; n = 182) students transitioning to university. The relative impact of changes in SNS/PSS, students’ social anxiety and autistic traits, on first-year university transition outcomes were also examined. Both groups gained friends over time who provided better support quantity and quality during first year of university. Social anxiety showed long-term differential negative impact on students on the autism spectrum and TD students’ academic, social and personal/emotional adjustments, and institutional attachment, suggesting stakeholders should focus on delivering interventions to reduce social anxiety to improve university transition outcomes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2832–2851
Number of pages	20
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume	50
Issue number	8
Early online date	7 Feb 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04391-w
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this study came from a Ph.D. studentship awarded to the first author through Widening Participation at the University of Bath, funded by Office for Fair Access.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorder
College
Perceived social support
Social anxiety
Social network
University

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental and Educational Psychology

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10.1007/s10803-020-04391-wLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Evaluating the Role of Autistic Traits, Social Anxiety, and Social Network Changes During Transition to First Year of University in Typically Developing Students and Students on the Autism Spectrum. / Lei, Jiedi; Brosnan, Mark ; Ashwin, Chris et al.
In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Vol. 50, No. 8, 01.08.2020, p. 2832–2851.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Lei, J, Brosnan, M , Ashwin, C & Russell, A 2020, 'Evaluating the Role of Autistic Traits, Social Anxiety, and Social Network Changes During Transition to First Year of University in Typically Developing Students and Students on the Autism Spectrum', Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 50, no. 8, pp. 2832–2851. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04391-w

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Evaluating the Role of Autistic Traits, Social Anxiety, and Social Network Changes During Transition to First Year of University in Typically Developing Students and Students on the Autism Spectrum

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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