M-WAY Phase 2: What have we found so far?

The second phase of the M-WAY project is now well underway. This is the 'quantitative' phase of the study, in which we are using data from two large longitudinal tudies to understand how different aspects of autistic young people's lives - including family experiences, friendships, and school environments - may shape mental health growing up. 

These studies have followed thousand of young people over many year, from infancy through adolescence and adulthood. Throughout this time, researchers have collected detailed information about participants' health, wellbeing, family life, eduation, and social experiences, making it possible to explore how early experiences relate to later outcomes. The studies we are using are:

1. The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) - follows around 19,000 young people born across the UK between 2000 and 2002

2. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) - follows around 15,000 young people born in the Bristol area in England between 1991 and 1992

In our most recent analyses, we focused on friendships and school experiences, looking at how these are linked to mental health in autistic young people.

 

Does quantity or quality of friendships matter more?

We know that autistic young people can have different preferences when it comes to socialising. However, social relationships are often still viewed from the perspectives of non-autistic people. 

For example, having a large group of friends is often seen as a sign that things are going well socially, while having a smaller friendship circle can sometimes be interpreted as a problem, particularly during adolescence when friendships tend to become very important.

Many autistic young people report having fewer friends than their peers, and researchers often assume that this reflects negative experiences such as rejection or exclusion. However, during discussions with our lived experience team of autistic young people and adults, they highlighted that this is not always the case. Some autistic young people may simply prefer a smaller number of close friendships, and may feel socially fulfilled as long as those relationships are meaningful and supportive.

This raised an important question: when it comes to mental health for autistic young people, is it the number of friends someone has that matters most, or how they feel about those friendships? This is the question we explored in our first study. 


What did we do?



Using data from ALSPAC, we compared young people with higher levels of autistic traits to those with average or lower levels of traits. We focused on two aspects of friendships: how satisfied young people felt with their friendships, and the number of close friends they had. We examined whether these factors influenced mental health over time, and whether mental health also influenced friendships in return.

Note. Ideally, we would have focused directly on young people with an autism diagnosis. However, in this dataset, information about diagnosis was limited, meaning that the number of participants with a recorded autism diagnosis was too small for this type of analysis. In part, this reflects the fact that ALSPAC participants are children of the 1990s, when autism was underdiagnosed compared to today. Instead, we used measures of autistic traits, which allowed us to compare young people with higher and lower levels of social communication differences across the whole sample.

What did we find?


For young people with average or lower levels of autistic traits: 
  • Having more friends and higher satisfaction with friendships were both linked to better mental health. 
  • Having poorer mental health also, in turn, predicted fewer friendships. 

For young people with higher levels of autistic traits:
  • Only higher satisfaction with friendships was linked to better mental health, and vice versa. 
  • Number of friendships was not linked to mental health. 

What does this mean overall?

Our findings suggest that there may not be a single way for friendships to support mental health in young people. Social experiences are often judged against common expectations about what friendships “should” look like, particularly during adolescence when having a large peer group is often seen as the norm. However, our results suggest that these expectations may not fit everyone equally well.

For some young people, having many friends may be important for wellbeing, but for others – particular those who have an autistic socialising style – feeling comfortable and satisfied with friendships may matter more than the size of their friendship group. 

This highlights the importance of considering individual differences in social preferences, rather than assuming that the same social patterns will be linked to good mental health for everyone. Understanding these differences may help us think more carefully about how to support both social wellbeing and mental health in autistic young people.


Do autistic young people feel engaged at school, and how does this relate to their mental health? 

Many autistic young people experience challenges at school, including higher rates of absence, exclusion, and emotional difficulties. In the general population, feeling engaged at school – for example, feeling interested in lessons, connected to teachers, or motivated to learn – is linked to better outcomes in these areas. 


However, we know much less about school engagement in autistic young people. Do autistic young people feel less engaged at school? If so, does this affect their mental health? We explored these questions in our second study.

What did we do?

Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study, we explored school engagement and mental health in young people aged 11 to 14. In particular, we asked:
  • Do autistic young people show different levels of school engagement compared to non-autistic young people?
  • Does school engagement change differently over time for autistic young people?
  • Do school engagement and mental health influence each other in autistic young people?

What did we find?

  • Compared to their non-autistic peers, autistic young people reported feeling less engaged at school at both ages 11 and 14.
  • Between ages 11 and 14, engagement decreased slightly for non-autistic young people, while remaining low but stable for autistic young people. 
  • In autistic young people, levels of school engagement were not clearly linked to later mental health, or vice versa.

What does this mean overall?

We found that many autistic young people may go through the early years of secondary school feeling persistently less engaged with school, rather than experiencing a sharp drop in engagement at the point of transition. This highlights that the challenges linked to school engagement may begin earlier and continue over time, rather than being limited to the move to secondary school itself.

At the same time, our findings suggest that improving school engagement alone may not necessarily lead to better mental health for autistic young people. Instead, supporting wellbeing may require looking more broadly at the different experiences shaping young people’s lives - including relationships, school environment, support systems, and experiences outside the classroom.

However, this does not mean that school engagement is unimportant for autistic young people. It may still be connected to other significant outcomes like learning, achievement, or feeling comfortable and supported at school. This is one avenue that could be explored in future studies. 



What's next?

The second phase of the M-WAY project is still very much in progress, and we have lots more analyses underway. Next, we’ll be looking at how peer relationships change over time, and how different patterns of peer difficulties across childhood and adolescence relate to later mental health. 

We’re also starting to explore how life events and family experiences might shape wellbeing, alongside a number of other factors that could play a role as autistic young people grow up.

There’s still plenty to come from this stage of the project, and we’re looking forward to sharing more findings as the work develops - so stay tuned for further updates!




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