Exploring the nature of anxiety in young adults on the autism spectrum: A qualitative study
Exploring the nature of anxiety in young adults on the autism spectrum: A qualitative study
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DOI：
10.1016/j.rasd.2018.07.006
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发表时间：
2018-11-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Uljarevic, Mirko
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Halim, Andrew T.;Richdale, Amanda L.;Uljarevic, Mirko
背景：迄今为止，对自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）焦虑症状本质的研究主要集中在儿童和青少年身上，为ASD相关的典型和非典型焦虑症状表现提供了证据。这项研究建立在先前的研究基础上，重点关注年轻人，并比较了自闭症患者和非自闭症患者的焦虑表现。我们预计，非ASD组只会报告典型的焦虑症状，而ASD组会报告典型和非典型的焦虑症状。方法：10例ASD伴焦虑患者（M = 21.8岁，SD = 6,76）和10例焦虑患者（M = 24.4岁，SD = 4.17）参加焦点小组。参与者回答了半结构化的访谈问题，这些问题是专门根据DSM-5标准为每一种焦虑症、疾病焦虑症和强迫症制定的。这些问题集中在仔细阐明焦虑的经历，包括DSM-5焦虑症状学和asd特异性焦虑症状学。结果：主题分析揭示了ASD组的主题结构，包括与dsm5相关的（如社交焦虑主题）和ASD特异性焦虑表现（即与核心ASD症状相关）。相比之下，非asd组主要描述了与dsm -5相关的焦虑症状。结论：与仅表现出DSM-5症状的年轻成年焦虑症患者相比，我们的研究结果支持了预测结果，即在年轻成年ASD患者中存在ASD特异性焦虑和DSM-5相关焦虑症状。未来的研究将利用定量和定性的方法阐明ASD症状学和焦虑之间的关系，这对于更全面地了解ASD中焦虑的细微差别至关重要。获得这些知识是开发更准确和适当的评估和治疗工具的关键一步，这些工具可以针对他们的特定焦虑经历。
Background: Research exploring the nature of anxiety symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has thus far focused on children and adolescents, providing evidence for both typical and atypical anxiety symptom presentations associated with ASD. This study builds on previous research by focusing on young adults, and comparing anxiety presentation between individuals with ASD and non-ASD individuals with anxiety disorders. We anticipated that while the non-ASD group would report only typical anxiety symptoms, and the ASD group would report both typical and atypical presentations of anxiety symptoms.Method: Ten individuals with ASD and anxiety (M = 21.8 years, SD = 6,76), and 10 individuals with anxiety (M = 24.4 years, SD = 4.17) participated in focus groups. Participants responded to semi-structured interview questions specifically developed using the DSM-5 criteria for each of the anxiety disorders, Illness Anxiety Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. These questions focused on carefully elucidating experiences of anxiety including DSM-5 anxiety symptomatology and ASD-specific anxiety symptomatology.Results: Thematic analysis revealed a theme structure for the ASD group composed of both DSM5-related (e.g., social anxiety themes) and ASD-specific anxiety presentations (i.e., related to core ASD symptomatology). In contrast, the non-ASD group described predominantly DSM-5-related anxiety symptomatology.Conclusions: Our findings support the predicted outcome that there are both ASD-specific anxiety and DSM-5-related anxiety symptomatology in young adults with ASD, compared with young adults with anxiety who show only DSM-5 symptomatology. Future research elucidating the relationship between ASD symptomatology and anxiety in ASD, utilising both quantitative and qualitative measures, is crucial to enable a more comprehensive understanding of the nuances of anxiety in ASD. Gaining this knowledge is a crucial step for the development of more accurate and appropriate assessment and treatment tools that can target their specific anxiety experiences.