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MINI REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1523506
Experiences of Friendship Among Autistic Adults: A Scoping Review
Provisionally accepted
Tian Wu 1,2*
Duu-chiang Wang 3,4- 1 Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, Nanjing, China
- 2 Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, departmant of social work, Taichung, Taiwan
- 3 Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
- 4 departmant of social work, Taichung, Taiwan
In this review, we comprehensively mapped the literature on the experiences of friendship among autistic adults.Sources: A scoping review was conducted following databases from the earliest records to December 2023 in four electronic databases (PubMed, ERIC, Web of Science and EBSCO (Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, APA PsycArticles, APA PsyInfo, and Open Dissertations) to (a) identify the quantity, breadth, and methodological characteristics of the literature, (b) summarize and synthesize key research findings, and (c) explore knowledge gaps to guide future research.Results: A total of 22 empirical studies were included. The results indicated that the most frequently studied components were friendship status; friendship practice; meaning of friendships; relationships between friendship and other factors.Future studies should incorporate the voice of autistic adults and focus on the dynamics and contexts of friendship experiences.
Keywords: Adult, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Friendship, experience, coping review
Received: 06 Nov 2024; Accepted: 20 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Tian Wu, Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, Nanjing, China
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