The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives around the world. Autistic adults are at higher risk for co-occurring medical and psychiatric conditions and may be more prone to difficulties adapting to pandemic-related changes and social distancing mandates and coping with ongoing uncertainties. On the other hand, the pandemic may lead to greater understanding and acceptance of accommodations in the broader community that may facilitate supports for autistic adults beyond the pandemic. To learn more about their early pandemic experiences, online surveys were sent to independent adults enrolled in the Simons Powering Autism Research Knowledge (SPARK). The first survey was open from March 30 to April 19, 2020; a follow-up survey sent to original responders was open from May 27 to June 6, yielding 396 participants with data for both surveys. We found that adults who were female, younger, had prior diagnoses of a mental health condition, personal COVID-19 experience (i.e., knowing someone who had symptoms or tested positive) or less frequent hope for the future reported the greatest negative impacts. Decrease in feelings of hopefulness over time predicted greater psychological distress at T2, accounting for T1 impact and distress levels and increases in total COVID-19 impact. Less perceived benefit of online services also predicted later distress. Although there tends to be a focus on coping with negative effects of the pandemic, mental health providers may consider approaches that focus on positives, such as fostering hope and understanding factors that facilitate benefit from online services.

中文翻译：

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自闭症成人的早期大流行经历：心理困扰的预测因素


COVID-19 大流行扰乱了世界各地的生活。自闭症成年人同时发生医疗和精神疾病的风险更高，并且可能更容易难以适应与流行病相关的变化和社会疏远要求以及应对持续的不确定性。另一方面，大流行可能会导致更广泛的社区对住宿的更多理解和接受，这可能有助于在大流行之外为自闭症成年人提供支持。为了更多地了解他们早期的大流行经历，我们向参加西蒙斯自闭症研究知识（SPARK）的独立成年人发送了在线调查。第一次调查于2020年3月30日至4月19日开放； 5 月 27 日至 6 月 6 日期间，向最初回复者发送了一项后续调查，共有 396 名参与者获得了两项调查的数据。我们发现，女性、年龄较小、之前被诊断出心理健康状况、个人有过 COVID-19 经历（即认识有症状或检测呈阳性的人）或对未来不太抱有希望的成年人报告了最大的负面影响。随着时间的推移，希望感的下降预示着 T2 时更大的心理困扰，考虑到 T1 的影响和痛苦水平以及 COVID-19 总影响的增加。在线服务的好处较少，也预示着日后的困境。尽管人们往往把重点放在应对大流行的负面影响上，但心理健康提供者可能会考虑关注积极因素的方法，例如培养希望和理解有助于从在线服务中受益的因素。