Qualitative Research
Becci Davis
Created on February 4, 2024
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Transcript
Understanding the Lived Experiences of Autistic Adults with Anxiety Problems
QualitativeResearch
Start
Focus groups identifyibg similar themes to Robertson et al. (2018)
Across semi-structured interviews with autistic adults, identified contributing factors to, consequences of, and management of anxiety
Investigating why autsitic individuals perceive they develop SA, what they view the impact and consequences of symptoms to be, and which coping strategies they find helpful
Focus groups disentangling anxiety symptoms from core autism symptomology
Key finding was that whilst parents often reported behavioural presentations of anxiety in their child, young people tended to elucidate their emotions and cognitive processes
Robertson et al. (2018)
Scoping Review
Conducted a thematic synthesis review of 10 studies assessing autistic children and young people and/or their parent’s perspective on the lived experience, symptomology or presentation of anxiety
Neilson and Bond (2023)
Trembath et al. (2012)
Spain et al. (2020)
Halim et al. (2018)
What kinds of mental imagery do autistic adults experience in relation to their anxiety?
What do autistic adults relate to amongst existing cognitive models of anxiety?
Research Questions
+ Interview Schedule
+ Interview Schedule
+ Interview Schedule
How do autistic adults understand the internal experience of their anxiety?
Age
Socioeconomic Status
Ethnicity
Educational Attainment
Type of Anxiety
Gender
Possible Areas of Representation
Participants
- Adults with a confirmed clinical diagnosis of autism
- Self-identify as having anxiety problems
- Singular, one-to-one, in-person, semi-structured interview
- Audio recorded and transcribed
- Reflexive thematic analytic method outlined in Braun and Clarke (2006) and Byrne (2021)
- Inductively developed analysis - focused on the data content rather than existing theoretical models
- Semantic and latent accounts of the data - explicit descriptions alongside more implicit interpretations
- Transcripts will be coded by assigning nodes to segments of the data
- These nodes will act as a coding scheme to begin generating themes
Methodology
What kinds of mental imagery do autistic adults experience in relation to their anxiety?
What do autistic adults relate to amongst existing cognitive models of anxiety?
Research Questions
+ Interview Schedule
+ Interview Schedule
+ Interview Schedule
How do autistic adults understand the internal experience of their anxiety?
1. How would you describe a recent experience of anxiety that you have had?
- Thoughts that go through your head?
- Feelings in your body?
- Difference between how you are thinking and feeling during anxiety vs. compared to when you're not anxious?
- How long did it last for?
- What actions did you take?
- What did you feel kept you in that state?
- What triggered that anxiety?
- What other situations might trigger your anxiety?
- How do your anxiety levels change between situations?
- How has your anxiety changed since then?
How do autistic adults understand the internal experience of their anxiety?
1. Automatic Thoughts / Repetitive Thinking / Worry
- Do you feel you often keep thinking about the same thing?
- Do you find it easy to stop thinking about something?
- How do you feel when you keep thinking about the same thing?
- When you are anxious, do you find yourself looking at particular things in the environment?
- Can you stop looking at this thing?
- Do you ever try to change how you feel?
- Do you do this by changing how you feel?
- Do you tend to keep your emotions to yourself or express them?
- How do you feel about uncertain situations?
- What do you do when you’re in an uncertain situation?
- Do you try to leave?
- Do you try to make the situation more certain?
What do autistic adults relate to amongst existing cognitive models of anxiety?
Interviewer would explain mental imagery to participants
1. Can you recall having any images in that situation?
- What could you see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Feel in the body?
- Was it a clear image/sound/smell/taste/feeling?
- Does it link to a particular memory or fear?