Department of Psychology, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK.
Warwick Medical School, Mental Health and Wellbeing Unit, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Jun;53(6):2328-2348. doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05509-y. Epub 2022 Mar 18.
Autistic individuals with intellectual disability who speak few or no words are at high risk of anxiety but are underrepresented in research. This study aimed to describe the presentation of anxiety in this population and discuss implications for the development of assessments. Interviews were conducted with 21 parents/carers of autistic individuals and nine clinicians. Data were analysed using content analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Anxiety behaviours described by parents/carers included increased vocalisation, avoidance and behaviours that challenge. Changes to routine were highlighted as triggering anxiety. Clinicians discussed the importance of identifying an individual's baseline of behaviour, knowing an individual well and ruling out other forms of distress. This study raises considerations for early identification of anxiety and for subsequent support.
患有智力障碍、语言能力有限或无语言能力的自闭症个体患焦虑症的风险很高，但在研究中代表性不足。本研究旨在描述该人群中焦虑症的表现，并讨论对评估方法发展的影响。对 21 名自闭症个体的家长/照顾者和 9 名临床医生进行了访谈。使用内容分析和解释性现象学分析对数据进行了分析。家长/照顾者描述的焦虑行为包括发声增加、回避和挑战行为。日常生活规律的改变被强调为引发焦虑的因素。临床医生讨论了识别个体的行为基线、了解个体和排除其他形式的痛苦的重要性。本研究提出了对焦虑症早期识别和后续支持的考虑。
