Sideropoulos Vassilis, Palikara Olympia, Burchell Elizabeth, Ashworth Maria, Van Herwegen Jo
Department of Psychology and Human Development IOE UCL's Faculty of Education and Society University College London London UK.
Department of Education Studies University of Warwick Coventry UK.
JCPP Adv. 2024 Aug 13;5(2):e12262. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12262. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Transition from primary to secondary school is an educational milestone that coincides with other key developmental changes associated with the onset of adolescence. Although previous studies have examined the impact of school transition on autistic students, no studies thus far have examined whether the impacts experienced are similar across different neurodivergent populations. In this paper, we examined how the transition to secondary school affects anxiety experienced by autistic children, children with Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS). Sixty-one parents completed an online survey at two time-points, answering questions about their neurodivergent child's anxiety, adjustment, well-being, skills, and experiences of the transition to secondary school. The children themselves completed a short interview, which included completing a set of standardised measures with a researcher. Both neurodivergent children and parents expressed concerns about bullying and adjustment to new environments during transition from primary to secondary school. Although wide variability was found in our sample, no significant differences were revealed in the overall levels of parent-reported anxiety pre- and post-transition. However, different factors predicted anxiety during pre- and post-school transition. The impact of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.
从小学过渡到中学是一个教育里程碑，它与青春期开始时的其他关键发育变化同时发生。尽管先前的研究已经考察了学校过渡对自闭症学生的影响，但迄今为止，尚无研究考察不同神经发育障碍群体所经历的影响是否相似。在本文中，我们研究了向中学过渡如何影响自闭症儿童、唐氏综合征（DS）儿童和威廉姆斯综合征（WS）儿童所经历的焦虑。61位家长在两个时间点完成了一项在线调查，回答了有关他们患有神经发育障碍的孩子的焦虑、适应情况、幸福感、技能以及向中学过渡的经历等问题。孩子们自己完成了一次简短的访谈，其中包括与一名研究人员一起完成一套标准化测试。在从小学过渡到中学的过程中，患有神经发育障碍的儿童和家长都表达了对欺凌行为以及适应新环境的担忧。尽管我们的样本中存在很大差异，但在家长报告的过渡前后焦虑总体水平上未发现显著差异。然而，不同的因素预测了学前和学后过渡期间的焦虑。本文讨论了这些发现对理论和实践的影响。
