LONGITUDINAL ANALYSES OF THE WELL-BEING OF STUDENTS WITH DIAGNOSED ADHD AND AUTISM

Shikhah Almayobed and Andrew P. Smith*

ABSTRACT

Three hundred students completed an online survey, which included the Short-Form Well-being Process Questionnaire, the Short-Form Strengths and Difficulties Scale, the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ10) and the ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS). One hundred had received a diagnosis of ADHD, 100 had a diagnosis of Autism, and 100 had no diagnosis of either ADHD or Autism. Participants repeated the survey three months later. Results: Cross-lagged analyses examine whether measures at time 1 were associated with the outcomes at time 2. Increased autistic characteristics predicted hyperactivity, emotional problems, conduct problems, and peer problems. Moreover, individuals with higher autistic traits at T1 tended to show lower prosocial behaviour at T2. The well-being outcomes at T2 were not predicted by the autism and ADHD measures at T1. Conclusion: It was observed that the ADHD/autism traits at time 1 were significantly associated with SDQ outcomes at time 2, but not well-being outcomes, which confirmed that the SDQ was more sensitive to ADHD/autism traits compared to well-being outcomes.

Keywords: Well-being; Strengths and Difficulties; ADHD; Autism; University Students.