“I’m trying to reach out, I’m trying to find my people” – A mixed-methods investigation of loneliness and loneliness distress in autistic adults

Rates of loneliness are substantially higher among autistic individuals compared to the non-autistic population. This observation refutes the persistent stereotype that autistic individuals are not motivated to seek meaningful social relationships. In this two-part, mixed-methods study, we sought to quantify the level of distress associated with loneliness in autistic and non-autistic adults and gain qualitative insight into autistic experiences of loneliness. In Study A, N=209 participants completed questionnaire ratings of their level of loneliness, associated distress, trait anxiety, depression, and sensory sensitivity. In Study B, nine autistic adults took part in ten-minute, unstructured dyadic conversations around the topic of loneliness. We derived a qualitative understanding of autistic individuals’ experience of loneliness, enriched by inductive and deductive analyses. The autistic group scored significantly higher across all measures and both groups displayed strong correlations between loneliness and loneliness distress. The effect of loneliness on anxiety was mediated by increased sensory sensitivity in the autistic group. Our results oppose the ‘social motivation deficit’ hypothesis and we instead frame our findings within the larger context of ‘ethical loneliness’, concluding that to enable meaningful and inclusive social interaction, a societal effort is needed to create spaces that consider the sensory needs of all neurotypes.