Extracurricular Activity Participation Among Autistic Children and Adolescents: Buffer for Internalizing Conditions and Foundation for Friendship?

Findings suggest that participation in sports may play a meaningful role in protecting against depression during adolescence and serve as a context for friendship development across childhood and adolescence. Future research should address barriers to extracurricular activity participation and identify the specific components of sports that are most beneficial to autistic youth to inform activity offerings and the development of interventions targeting friendship formation and mental health outcomes.