ABSTRACT
Community brief Why is this an important issue?"Well-being" captures a state of comfort, health, and happiness and is more than just the absence of disease or negative feelings. Only a few studies to date have focused on the emotional well-being of autistic adults. The positive psychology-based PERMA Profiler (named after the five subscales: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) is a brief self-report measure for rating well-being using 23 questions. It has been widely used for studying well-being in nonautistic populations. However, no studies have tested how well the PERMA Profiler measures well-being among autistic adults. What was the purpose of this study?The goal was to evaluate the PERMA Profiler using data from a group of autistic adults living in the United States. This was the first study that tested how well the PERMA Profiler measures the well-being of autistic adults, both overall and across the five subscales. What did the researchers do?First, we collected responses to the PERMA Profiler and other questions from more than 500 autistic adults. Then, we tested whether the PERMA Profiler measures well-being consistently and if the measure performs as expected (i.e., did it measure what it is supposed to measure?). We also compared well-being scores with the mental health (anxiety and depression) and life satisfaction of the study participants. What were the results of the study?The average overall well-being score was 5.4 out of 10, with higher values indicating experiencing well-being more often. Notably, the average well-being score was 7.0 in unrelated, previous studies of nonautistic adults). The PERMA Profiler measured well-being consistently in our sample. The overall well-being scores and each of the five subscale scores were related to mental health and life satisfaction as expected. The "Engagement" subscale did not perform as well as the others in our sample, which was consistent with the findings of studies with nonautistic adults. What do these findings add to what was already known?This is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of the PERMA Profile or any measure of self-reported well-being in a sample of autistic adults. These results can help future researchers determine how best to study well-being, specifically in autistic adults. These findings point to important changes that might be made to the PERMA Profiler before it is used in future research. What are potential weaknesses in the study?Autistic adults were not involved in the development of the PERMA Profiler. Therefore, the measure may need to be changed by teams involving autistic coinvestigators before use with other samples. Second, our findings may not represent larger, more diverse groups of autistic adults because most participants were White (85%), well-educated (more than 80% completed at least some college), and did not have intellectual disability. Lastly, the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which likely impacted the well-being of participants. How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?Our study provides preliminary support for the PERMA Profiler and suggests next steps for improving it and other measures of well-being before expanding use with autistic adults. Our findings may help the field of autism research develop new measures for understanding and improving well-being. The strengths and weaknesses of the PERMA Profiler that we identified can inform future strengths-based research involving autistic adults. Background: Studies of positive psychology and emotional well-being have broadened our understanding of mental health. However, mental health research involving autistic adults has been largely deficit-focused. Few studies have examined well-being using established positive psychological frameworks.Methods: This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the PERMA Profiler, a 23-item questionnaire that measures well-being across five subscales (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment), in a sample of 517 autistic adults ages 18-84 years (M = 39.5, standard deviation [SD] = 13.3). Reliability (internal consistency), structural validity (via confirmatory factor analysis including bifactor modeling), and concurrent validity were examined.Results: The PERMA Profiler mean (SD) well-being score was 5.4 (SD = 1.7), which is notably lower than the mean of 7.0 previously found in nonautistic samples. Subscale scores were highest for Engagement (M = 6.8;SD = 1.9), followed by Accomplishment (M = 5.6;SD = 2.2), Relationships (M = 5.2;SD = 2.6), Meaning (M = 5.2;SD = 2.7), and Positive emotion (M = 5.0;SD = 2.4). Factor analyses revealed strong psychometrics (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93;Comparative Fit Index = 0.94;Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.97;root mean square error of approximation = 0.08;standardized root mean residual = 0.05) and superior fit of the bifactor model, supporting a general factor for conceptualizing well-being as opposed to a five-factor model. PERMA well-being and subscale scores were significantly correlated (p < 0.001) with mental health conditions and life satisfaction.Conclusion: These findings support use of an adapted version of the PERMA Profiler in mental health research to evaluate well-being among autistic adults. Similar to studies with nonautistic populations, the Engagement measure may not capture the experiences of the autistic population and further refinement is needed. Follow-up research should represent a more diverse autistic population, collaborate with autistic coinvestigators, and explore potential correlates of well-being (such as social stigma) while using the PERMA Profiler.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted educators, both personally and professionally. However, very little is known about the extent of these impacts among educators' serving children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The present study surveyed 230 educators (teachers, staff, and administrators) to assess their wellbeing, concerns during the pandemic, and perceived importance of various COVID-19 school mitigation strategies. Data were gathered May/June of 2021 from two separate school districts, one in the Midwest and the other in the Mid-Atlantic, serving children with IDD. Nearly half of all survey respondents reported poor wellbeing. Almost all educators reported health of themselves, students, and family members was their greatest concern when compared to pandemic-related disruption of their duties or benefits (e.g., not having enough sick time). Most educators felt disinfecting routines, vaccinations, and daily health checks were the most helpful in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools, while in-school mask mandates and weekly testing of students and staff were perceived as less helpful. Our findings suggest that efforts are needed to support the wellbeing of educators during these challenging times. When pandemic-related policies and procedures are decided by administrators, our data suggest educators will review decisions within the framework of health and safety of themselves, their students, and families. Understanding this framework may be particularly valuable when considering implementation of COVID-19 policies, like masking and COVID-19 testing, that are less preferred.