Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 Dec;50(12):4280-4296. doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04479-3.
Autistic women are overrepresented among people in treatment for Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The current study aimed to: (1) better understand how AN develops and persists in autistic individuals from the perspective of autistic women, parents and healthcare professionals; (2) derive a theoretical model of restrictive eating difficulties in autism. We conducted 44 semi-structured interviews and used Thematic Analysis to identify patterns of meaning across the data. Themes related to sensory sensitivities, social interaction and relationships, sense of self and identity, difficulties with emotions, thinking styles, and a need for control and predictability. We developed a model of potential autism-specific mechanisms underlying restrictive eating difficulties. This study generated novel insights, which have the potential to inform treatment adaptations following empirical testing.
自闭症女性在接受厌食症（AN）治疗的人群中比例过高。本研究旨在：（1）从自闭症女性、家长和医疗保健专业人员的角度更好地了解自闭症个体中 AN 是如何发展和持续存在的；（2）从自闭症角度得出限制进食困难的理论模型。我们进行了 44 次半结构化访谈，并使用主题分析来识别数据中的意义模式。主题涉及感官敏感性、社交互动和关系、自我意识和身份、情绪、思维方式以及对控制和可预测性的需求方面的困难。我们提出了一个潜在的自闭症特有的限制进食困难的机制模型。本研究产生了新的见解，有可能为经过实证检验后的治疗调整提供信息。
