Brown Cynthia E, Collins Tal, Foy Riley K, Bonish Kirsten E, Ramsey Taylor E, Nowell Kerri P, Bernardin Courtney J, Kanne Stephen M
School of Graduate Psychology, Pacific University, Hillsboro, OR, USA.
Department of Health Psychology, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Aug 1. doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06501-4.
Nearly all autistic youth have special interests (SIs), which are associated with many benefits and challenges. Most research on SIs has focused on the subject matter of SIs, with less focus on understanding how youth engage in their SIs. We conducted a qualitative study using inductive content analysis (ICA) to examine: (1) The modalities youth use to engage in their SIs, (2) the degree to which such modalities are described by caregivers as adaptive or maladaptive, and (3) the extent to which the SIs themselves are described by caregivers positively or negatively. We coded responses from 1922 caregivers of autistic youths who completed an online version of the Special Interests Survey, a caregiver-report measure of SIs. Responses to open-ended questions on the SIS, wherein caregivers describe the specific interest within the endorsed SI category, were used as data for the ICA. Frequencies of the codes were derived from cross-tabulation data. The ICA yielded eight modalities: perseverating, creating, information-seeking, memorizing, collecting, attachment, sensory-seeking, and self-soothing. Perseverating, collecting, and attachment were described as maladaptive and negatively by caregivers, whereas creating and information-seeking were described as adaptive. SIs with the greatest proportion of positive and negative descriptions were Plants and Objects, respectively. These findings suggest that SIs - and the degree to which they are described as beneficial or problematic - may be associated with modality and the subject matter. Considering how autistic individuals engage in SIs has implications for clinical work and future research in this area.
几乎所有患有自闭症的青少年都有特殊兴趣（SIs），这些特殊兴趣带来了许多益处，但也伴随着挑战。大多数关于特殊兴趣的研究都集中在特殊兴趣的主题上，而较少关注青少年如何参与他们的特殊兴趣。我们进行了一项定性研究，采用归纳式内容分析法（ICA）来考察：（1）青少年参与其特殊兴趣所使用的方式；（2）照顾者将这些方式描述为适应性或非适应性的程度；（3）照顾者对特殊兴趣本身的积极或消极描述程度。我们对1922名自闭症青少年照顾者的回答进行了编码，这些照顾者完成了一份在线版的特殊兴趣调查问卷，这是一项由照顾者报告的特殊兴趣测量工具。对特殊兴趣调查问卷中开放式问题的回答，即照顾者描述在认可的特殊兴趣类别中的具体兴趣，被用作归纳式内容分析法的数据。编码的频率来自交叉列表数据。归纳式内容分析法得出了八种方式：执着、创造、信息寻求、记忆、收集、依恋、感官寻求和自我安抚。照顾者将执着、收集和依恋描述为非适应性的且带有消极色彩，而创造和信息寻求则被描述为适应性的。被积极和消极描述比例最高的特殊兴趣分别是植物和物品。这些发现表明，特殊兴趣——以及它们被描述为有益或有问题的程度——可能与方式和主题有关。考虑自闭症个体如何参与特殊兴趣对该领域的临床工作和未来研究具有启示意义。
