Happiness, self‐esteem, and prosociality in children with and without autism spectrum disorder: Evidence from a UK population cohort study
Published online on July 06, 2018
Abstract
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High levels of childhood happiness, self‐esteem, and prosociality are associated with positive social and emotional outcomes. Little is known about whether these constructs co‐occur and how levels of co‐occurrence are different in children with or without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Data was obtained from 13,285 11‐year olds (408 with ASD) from a UK based prospective cohort study. Latent class analysis revealed five distinct classes: The “very low prosociality class” (with ASD 32% vs. without ASD 7%) was characterized by children who were happy and had high self‐esteem but they were not prosocial. The “low happiness class” (with ASD 3% vs. without ASD 3%), included those children who had moderate self‐esteem and were prosocial but were the least happy. Children in the “low to moderate positive functioning class” (with ASD 16% vs. without ASD 6%) were moderately happy and had the lowest self‐esteem but were prosocial. The “moderate to high positive functioning class” (with ASD 17% vs. without ASD 23%) was characterized by children who were happy, had moderate self‐esteem, and were very prosocial. The majority of children were in the “optimum class” (with ASD 31% vs. without ASD 62%), and were very happy, very prosocial with high self‐esteem. Our findings demonstrate that for the majority of children in our sample, happiness, self‐esteem, and prosociality co‐occur. Furthermore, although as a group children with ASD have lower levels of positive functioning, our multivariable latent class approach suggests that nearly half of children with ASD are happy, have good levels self‐esteem, and are prosocial. Autism Res 2018, 11: 1011–1023. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Lay Summary
High levels of childhood happiness, self‐esteem, and prosociality are associated with positive social and emotional outcomes. In this study, we investigated whether happiness, self‐esteem and prosociality co‐occur in children, and how possible co‐occurrence differs between those with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. We found that for the majority of children happiness, self‐esteem, and prosociality co‐occur. Furthermore, although as a group children with ASD have lower levels of positive functioning, our findings suggest that nearly half of children with ASD are happy, have good levels of self‐esteem, and are prosocial.
- Autism Research, Volume 11, Issue 7, Page 1011-1023, July 2018.