TABLE 1.
Participants’ socio-demographic characteristics.
| Characteristics | Autistic sample (n = 71) M(SD)/N (%) | TD sample (n = 65) M(SD)/N (%) | t-test/χ2 | p | Cohen’s d/Phi |
| Age (years) | 37.83 (14.42) | 38.52 (14.03) | –0.28 | 0.777 | 0.042 |
| Sex | 0.22 | 0.637 | 0.040 | ||
| Male | 40 (56%) | 34 (52.3%) | |||
| Female | 31 (44%) | 31 (47.7%) | |||
| English as a second language | 3 (4.0%); 4 unknown | 5 (7.7%) | 0.60 | 0.439 | 0.067 |
| Years of education | 14.31 (2.36) | 14.11 (3.30) | 0.41 | 0.680 | 0.069 |
| Current occupation | |||||
| Employed, self-employed or in higher education or vocational training | 42 (59.2%) | 51 (78.5%) | 5.85 | 0.016 | 0.207 |
| Unemployed or in voluntary work or job training | 29 (40.8%) | 14 (21.5%) | |||
| Relationship status | |||||
| Not in a relationship | 42 (59.0%) | 37 (56.9%) | 0.07 | 0.792 | 0.023 |
| In a relationship | 29 (41.0%) | 28 (43.1%) | |||
| RAADS-R | 149.30 (32.65) | 56.57 (39.13) | 15.05 | < 0.001 | 2.57 |
| Psychological historya | 16.97 | < 0.001 | 0.359 | ||
| No | 37 (52.1%) | 57 (87.7%) | |||
| Yes | 30 (42.3%) | 8 (12.3%) | |||
| Unknown | 4 (5.6%) | − |
aParticipants were asked to indicate whether they had a history of a psychological disorder (i.e. Do you have a history of a major psychiatric disorder? [e.g. major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, schizophrenia]); RAADS-R = Ritvo Autism Asperger’s Diagnostic Scale – Revised.