A Data-Driven Investigation of Environmental Correlates Associated With the Lived Experience of Autistic People

Research suggests that the direct living environment is important in shaping the lived experience of people with autism. This study explored the relationship between objectively measured environmental variables and autistic people’s lived experience through (1) self-perceived autistic traits and (2) self-reported wellbeing. 2,019 Autistic adults (60.4% female, mean age = 46.4, SD = 13.7) were recruited through the Netherlands Autism Register. Autistic traits were assessed using the short Autism Quotient (AQ-Short) and wellbeing using the Cantril Ladder. Objective environmental variables were retrieved via the Geoscience and Health Cohort Consortium. We performed an Environment-Wide Association Study approach using multilevel regressions to assess the association between 53 environmental variables and AQ-Short and wellbeing scores. Next, we performed principal components regression analyses to assess the combined association between environmental factors and both outcomes. We observed a significant association between distance to highway exit or entrance and AQ-Short scores, alongside eight nominally significant associations in the domains air pollution, key statistics (e.g., number of addresses), livability, traffic, and utilities. No significant associations were observed with wellbeing. For both AQ scores and wellbeing, most individual effect sizes were not significant, but the combined association of multiple environmental variables was small but significant. Notably, including socio-economic status (SES) in the model weakened most associations, which highlights SES as a crucial factor in autistic people’s lived experience. Our study is novel by applying a data-driven design to study the lived experience of autistic individuals, and opens routes for future research.