Bishop-Fitzpatrick, Lauren
(2015)
SOCIAL FUNCTIONING IN ADULTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: THE ROLE OF BIOLOGICAL STRESS RESPONSE AND PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This study aimed to improve our understanding of social functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by: (1) identifying differences in stress among adults with ASD and healthy volunteers; and (2) examining the relationship between stress and social functioning in adults with ASD. This study hypothesized that adults with ASD would experience greater stress than healthy volunteers and that there would be a significant, negative relationship between stress and social functioning in adults with ASD. Data were collected from 40 adults with ASD and 25 healthy volunteers during a single session in the laboratory. Repeated measures of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR) were taken during a social stress challenge task, while salivary cortisol was collected before and after the task. Measures also assessed psychosocial stress (perceived stress and stressful life events), global functioning, social disability, daily living skills, and social impairment. Analyses examined group differences between adults with ASD and healthy volunteers on biological stress response and psychosocial stress using analysis of variance procedures. The relationship between stress and social functioning was analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression procedures separately for biological stress response and psychosocial stress. This research found that adults with ASD and healthy volunteers exhibit remarkably similar patterns of biological stress response, yet the ASD group reported more psychosocial stress than healthy volunteers. In addition, findings indicated that psychosocial stress was a pertinent predictor of social disability in adults with ASD, but that biological stress response did not predict social functioning in this group. These results suggest that, while adults with ASD experience greater psychosocial stress than healthy volunteers, they do not differ significantly from healthy volunteers in their biological stress response. In addition, the lived experience of stress may have a greater influence on social disability than biological stress response in this population, although a lack of biological stress response difference between adults with ASD and healthy volunteers may be explained by burnout. Future research should examine interventions that might improve social functioning by helping adults with ASD perceive and cope with stress differently.
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
| Creators | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Bishop-Fitzpatrick, Lauren | lef35@pitt.edu | LEF35 | |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
31 July 2015 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
29 June 2015 |
| Approval Date: |
31 July 2015 |
| Submission Date: |
30 July 2015 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
168 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Social Work > Social Work |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Stress, cortisol, cardiovascular reactivity, autism, disability |
| Date Deposited: |
31 Jul 2015 13:29 |
| Last Modified: |
19 Dec 2016 14:42 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/25846 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[img]](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}