Quality of Life and Anxiety in Autistic Teens: The Moderating Effect of Self-Determination and Daily Living Skills

In autistic populations, anxiety is negatively associated with quality of life (QoL).Autistic people experience poor QoL outcomes, and self-advocates have called for researchinvestigating supports to strengthen QoL outcomes. The present study examined the relationbetween anxiety and QoL and investigated self-determination and daily living skills as potentialmoderators in a sample of 89 autistic teenagers without intellectual disability. A linear regressionmodel showed a negative relation between anxiety and QoL in teens’ self-reported data.Moderation analyses using adolescents’ self-reported QoL and self-determination alongsidecaregivers’ reports on their teen’s anxiety revealed self-determination as a moderator of therelation between anxiety and QoL; however, the model using all teen data was non-significant.Models of daily living skills did not indicate a significant moderation effect. Future researchinvestigating potential moderating factors of the negative relation between anxiety and QoL inautistic teens could provide context for future intervention targets.