Dimensions of Sexuality Among Young Women, With and Without Autism, With Predominantly Sexual Minority Identities

Abstract

Self-reported sexuality research among people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is small but growing. The current study contributes to this field by focusing on the experiences of 18–30 year-old women, with ASD (n = 248) and without (n = 179), predominantly with sexual minority (i.e., non-heterosexual) identities. Multiple aspects of healthy human sexuality, including sexual desire, sexual behavior, sexual satisfaction, and sexual awareness, were explored. In this study, participants with ASD reported less sexual desire, fewer sexual behaviors, and less sexual awareness than those without ASD; however, the two groups reported comparable rates of sexual satisfaction. Next, relations across sexuality-related variables within each group were explored using partial correlational analyses. In both samples, sexual desire, sexual behavior, and sexual awareness were positively correlated, but sexual satisfaction functioned somewhat differently, correlating negatively and weakly with sexual desire and monitoring in both samples. These findings, alongside future research directions and clinical implications, are discussed in relation to the limited previous research on sexuality among women and young adults with ASD.