Stress & Coping in Adolescents with High Functioning Autism Bethany Sinclair Supervisors Dr. Rhonda Brown, The Australian National University Prof. Tony Attwood, Griffith University Dr. Daniel Skorich, The Australian National University

 People diagnosed with ASD have often been reported to experience high levels of stress, anxiety and depression relative to the general population  Few studies have investigated the experiences of stressors, psychological stress, coping, social support utilization, and affective symptoms in people with HFA Where the Literature Stands

 Adolescents with ASD are reported to be at a high risk of developing affective symptoms  Bullying is a common occurrence in the school context, especially in individuals with mental health problems such as ASD Adolescents with ASD

 Khor and colleagues (2014) explored the relationship between daily hassles, coping, and behavioural and emotional problems in adolescents with HFA  Disengagement coping style was related to worse ASD behaviour and emotional problems  Therapies which focus on improving coping strategy use may have the potential to improve mental health The Impact of Stress on Emotional & Behavioural Problems

 Aims to:  Address significant gap in literature  provide a foundation for the development of future psycho-education interventions that provides teens with knowledge and skills to better handle everyday stressors Stress & Coping: The Research Project

 What types of stressful situations are associated with high perceived psychological stress and affective symptoms in adolescents with HFA (with particular emphasis on the school experience)?  What coping mechanisms (including social support utilization) do they employ to deal with the stressors they encounter?  Which coping mechanisms are most effective in reducing the potential to experience high stress and affective symptoms? Stress & Coping: The Research Project

 Participants completed an online survey consisting of;  The Stress Survey Schedule  Tony Attwood’s Reasons Why People with Asperger’s Syndrome Feel Sad or Depressed  The Brief COPE  The DASS-21  Attended a face-to-face interview to discuss the online survey, the stress they face and their coping strategies Preliminary Study

 8 adolescents from Canberra  years old (mean age 14.5 years old)  3 male, 5 female  All adolescents bar 1 included their parent/s (9 parents total)  Recruitment Issues & Lessons Participants

 Stressful Sensory Environment  Social Interactions  Change  Anticipation Themes: Stress

 Sensory strategies  Avoidance  Special Interests  Social support  Animals Themes: Coping

 Stress Survey Schedule  Difficult to understand  Reasons Why People with Asperger’s Syndrome Sometimes Feel Sad or Depressed  Easier to understand  Use more graphics (such as pie charts)  Brief COPE  Least upsetting  Low averages for each coping strategy  DASS-21  Least changes Measures

“She said people ask her ‘Why are you weird?’, and she says to me ‘But everyone else is weird to me” - Mum of 12 year old female “Things change over your journey with the spectrum… it depends how long you’ve had the diagnosis and how much you’re supported… there are always new challenges” - Mum of 14 year old female Conclusions

Our next study will be recruiting within the next month – if you or someone you know would like to be involved, please expressing your Any assistance is appreciated! Interested in Participating?

Khor, A. S., Melvin, G. A., Reid, S. C., & Gray, K. M. (2014). Coping, Daily Hassles and Behavior and Emotional Problems in Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism/Asperger’s Disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 44(3), Moran, J. M., Young, L. L., Saxe, R., Lee, S. M., O'Young, D., Mavros, P. L., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2011). Impaired theory of mind for moral judgment in high-functioning autism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), References