Qualitative Research

Understanding the Lived Experiences of Autistic Adults with Anxiety Problems

QualitativeResearch

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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?

2. What is the worst experience of anxiety that you can recall?

• What triggered that anxiety?
• What other situations might trigger your anxiety?
• How do your anxiety levels change between situations?

3. What is your earliest experience of anxiety that you can recall?

• 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?

2. Attentional Biases

• When you are anxious, do you find yourself looking at particular things in the environment?
• Can you stop looking at this thing?

3. Emotional Regulation

• 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?

4. Intolerance of Uncertainty

• 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?

2. Have you had this image more than once?3. What emotions did that image bring about?4. What do you think the image means?

• Does it link to a particular memory or fear?

What kinds of mental imagery do autistic adults experience in relation to their anxiety?