(PS3-A22) Neuro-diverse Couples: Relationship Satisfaction and Its Correlates Among Nonautistic and Autistic Adults

Cognitive behavioral therapists often seek to enhance relationship satisfaction by increasing affectionate communication and empathy among partners. However, neuro-mixed couples (comprised of nonautistic & autistic partners) may have different predictors of relationship satisfaction than couples comprised of either two nonautistic or two autistic partners. Although both similar and complementary autistic traits have been investigated, their impact on relationship satisfaction has not been conclusive (Beffel et al., 2021). Autistic individuals may benefit from partnering with someone similar (Faso et al., 2016); conversely, complementary characteristics of nonautistic individuals may also enhance relationship satisfaction (Aston, 2003). Furthermore, while many studies have investigated empathy and affectionate communication from the perspective of a nonautistic partner, little research has focused on the autistic individual's perspective. The present study compared the relationship satisfaction of neuro-mixed, nonautistic, and autistic couples. This study also investigated how empathy and affectionate communication associate with relationship satisfaction among different relationship types.
Non-dyadic data were collected from an online community sample dedicated to neuro-mixed relationships (N = 263). Participants identified as autistic partnered with someone nonautistic (AS/NA), nonautistic partnered with someone autistic (NA/AS), nonautistic partnered with someone nonautistic (NA/NA), or autistic partnered with someone autistic (AS/AS). Relationship satisfaction was measured using the Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI-16; Funk & Rogge, 2007). Participants’ perception of their partner’s affectionate communication was measured using the Affectionate Communication Index (ACI; Floyd & Morman, 1998), and participants’ perception of their partner’s empathy was measured using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ; Spreng et al., 2009). Data were analyzed using Welch’s ANOVA, regression analyses, and Pearson correlations. The results from the ANOVA revealed a significant difference in relationship satisfaction among different types of couples, F(3, 111.71) = 7.74, p < .001, η2 = .047. Games-Howell post-hoc analyses revealed significant differences between AS/AS and AS/NA (MD = 0.42, p = .002, Hedges’ g = 0.49), NA/AS (MD = 0.64, p = .01, Hedges’ g = 0.73) and NA/NA (MD = 0.46, p = .01, Hedges’ g = 0.61) couples. Regression/correlational analyses suggest that neuro-mixed relationship satisfaction tends to increase with affectionate communication (r’s > .60, p’s < .001) and empathy (r’s > .42, p’s <
.007) for both autistic and nonautistic partners. However, in AS/AS relationships, these correlations were nonsignificant for affectionate communication (r = .25, p = .076) and empathy (r = .18, p = .192). These findings support a previous study suggesting AS/AS couples have greater relationship satisfaction (Strunz et al., 2017). Novel findings from the present study suggest therapists may find it useful to focus on empathy and affectionate communication for both partners in a neuro-mixed relationship; whereas identifying alternative variables may be more helpful for autistic-autistic couples.