Background and aims Young people’s parents often play a key role in facilitating friendships and have their own views on these friendships. Yet parents have rarely been asked to report on the friendships and peer relationships of their autistic children. This study therefore sought to examine parents’ perspectives on the friendships and social difficulties of their autistic daughters, and their views and concerns about their daughters’ futures. Methods Twenty parents of autistic adolescent girls, aged between 11 and 18 years, took part in semi-structured interviews on the topics of friendships, conflict and thoughts about adulthood and the future. Results Results demonstrated that parents often have significant involvement in their daughters’ social lives and friendships and have a range of views on these relationships. They highlighted both benefits and pitfalls of their daughters’ peer interactions, and the perceived negative influence of these interactions on their daughters’ mental health. Most parents had significant concerns about their daughters’ futures, either about their ability to live independently, or their potential vulnerability to exploitation. Despite these concerns around sexual relationships, some parents were avoiding raising the issue with their daughters. Conclusions Adolescent autistic girls often have positive, close friendships, but can also be the victims of bullying, with significant negative impacts on their mental health, at least according to their parents. Concerns about girls’ development into adulthood were commonplace, with parents taking a range of approaches to attempt to talk about the future with their daughters. Implications There is an urgent need for more open conversations to help autistic girls stay safe and secure as they mature, supporting their ability to understand and negotiate more intimate social relationships. Future research should examine these changing relationships as autistic girls’ transition to adulthood and should seek to combine the views of parents alongside the young people themselves.

中文翻译：

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父母对自闭症女孩的友谊和未来的看法

背景和目标年轻人的父母通常在促进友谊中起关键作用，并对这些友谊有自己的看法。然而，很少有人要求父母报告自闭症孩子的友谊和同伴关系。因此，本研究试图考察父母对自闭女儿的友谊和社会困境以及他们对女儿未来的看法和担忧的观点。方法20名年龄在11至18岁之间的自闭症少女的父母参加了关于友谊，冲突以及关于成年和未来的想法的半结构化访谈。结果结果表明，父母经常参与女儿的社交生活和友谊，并对这些关系有多种看法。他们强调了女儿同伴互动的好处和陷阱，以及这些互动对女儿心理健康的负面影响。大多数父母对女儿的未来，无论是他们独立生活的能力还是遭受剥削的潜在脆弱性，都抱有极大的担忧。尽管存在有关性关系的担忧，但一些父母还是避免与女儿一起提出这个问题。结论青少年自闭症女孩通常具有积极，亲密的友谊，但也可能成为欺凌行为的受害者，至少对他们的父母而言，对他们的心理健康具有重大的负面影响。对女孩成长为成年的担忧是司空见惯的，父母们采取了多种方法试图与女儿谈论未来。启示迫切需要进行更多公开对话，以帮助自闭症女孩成熟时保持安全，支持其理解和谈判更亲密社会关系的能力。未来的研究应检查自闭症女孩向成年过渡时这些变化的关系，并应设法将父母的观点与年轻人本身结合起来。