• DOI:10.3233/WOR-172492
• Corpus ID: 3749575

Predictors of employment status among adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

@article{Ohl2017PredictorsOE,
  title={Predictors of employment status among adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.},
  author={Alisha Ohl and Mira Grice Sheff and Sarah Small and Jamie Nguyen and Kelly Paskor and Aliza Zanjirian},
  journal={Work},
  year={2017},
  volume={56 2},
  pages={
          345-355
        }
}

• Alisha Ohl, Mira Grice Sheff, +3 authors Aliza Zanjirian
• Published 2017
• Psychology, Medicine
• Work

BACKGROUND
In the United States, adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience high rates of unemployment and underemployment in relation to adults with other disabilities and the general population. Yet there is little research examining their employment experiences and the predictors of employment status.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the employment characteristics and histories of both employed and unemployed adults with ASD, and the factors that contributed to their employment status.

METHODS
This cross-sectional study used an online survey and the Short Effort Reward Imbalance (ERI) Scale to gather data. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine predictors of employment status and self-reported health.

RESULTS
Of the 254 adults with ASD who participated in this study, 61.42% were employed and 38.58% were unemployed. Over half of the participants reported job imbalance on the Short ERI Scale and the vast majority did not receive any job assistance. Participants who disclosed their ASD diagnosis to their employer were more than three times as likely to be employed than those who did not disclose. Education level was also a significant predictor of employment status.

CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests disability disclosure and education level are factors that contribute to employment status.