Laura Graham Holmes, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY.
Russell J. Goebel, BS, is PhD Candidate, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Boston University, Boston, MA.
Am J Occup Ther. 2023 Mar 1;77(2). doi: 10.5014/ajot.2023.050108.
Some autistic adults experience depression and anxiety related to their social relationships. There is a need for evidence-based occupational therapy interventions that decrease depression and anxiety and improve the health of social relationships for autistic adults.
To determine the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the Healthy Relationships on the Autism Spectrum (HEARTS) intervention, a six-session, group-based psychoeducational intervention for the improvement of relationship health.
One-group pretest-posttest design with a 3-mo follow-up after baseline.
United States; online intervention through community organization.
Fifty-five adults, ages 20 to 43 yr, with a professional or self-diagnosis of autism and the capacity to independently participate in an online, group-based, participatory class.
Participants received 6 90-min weekly sessions that addressed healthy relationship topics, including recognizing abuse, meeting people, maintaining relationships, setting interpersonal boundaries, neurohealth for relationships, and ending relationships. A psychoeducational approach that provided education and involved guided discovery and strategy acquisition was used.
All measures were self-administered through an online survey. Depression and anxiety were assessed using instruments from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System.
Fifty-five participants completed the intervention. Postintervention scores revealed statistically significant improvements in depression and anxiety.
HEARTS is a promising intervention for improving depression and anxiety among autistic adults and should be investigated further. What This Article Adds: HEARTS offers a potentially effective, nonpharmacological, psychoeducational group-based intervention option to promote healthy relationships for autistic adults. Positionality Statement: This article uses identity-first language (autistic person) in accordance with the preference of autistic self-advocates (Autistic Self Advocacy Network, 2020; Kenny et al., 2016; Lord et al., 2022).
一些自闭症成年人会因社交关系而感到抑郁和焦虑。我们需要有循证的职业治疗干预措施，以减轻自闭症成年人的抑郁和焦虑，改善他们的社交关系健康。
确定基于群体的心理教育干预措施“自闭症谱系中的健康关系”（HEARTS）的可行性和初步效果，该干预措施共六节，旨在改善关系健康。
单组预测试后测试设计，在基线后进行 3 个月的随访。
美国；通过社区组织进行在线干预。
55 名年龄在 20 至 43 岁之间的成年人，他们有自闭症的专业或自我诊断，并且有能力独立参加在线、基于群体、参与式课程。
参与者接受了 6 个 90 分钟的每周课程，涵盖了健康关系主题，包括识别虐待、结识他人、维持关系、设定人际关系界限、神经健康与关系、结束关系。采用了一种心理教育方法，提供教育并涉及引导发现和策略获取。
所有措施均通过在线调查进行自我评估。使用患者报告的结果测量信息系统中的工具评估抑郁和焦虑。
55 名参与者完成了干预。干预后的评分显示抑郁和焦虑均有统计学意义上的改善。
HEARTS 是一种有前途的干预措施，可以改善自闭症成年人的抑郁和焦虑，应该进一步研究。这篇文章增加了什么：HEARTS 为促进自闭症成年人建立健康关系提供了一种潜在有效的、非药物的、心理教育的基于群体的干预选择。立场声明：本文根据自闭症倡导者（Autistic Self Advocacy Network，2020；Kenny 等人，2016；Lord 等人，2022）的偏好，使用了身份优先语言（自闭症患者）。
