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Community connectedness as a buffer against the effects of minority stress on mental health in the autistic population.

社区联系可以缓冲少数群体压力对自闭症人群心理健康的影响。

基本信息

批准号：
ES/V012347/1
负责人：
金额：
$ 12.55万
依托单位：
University of Stirling
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2020 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FV012347%2F1
关键词：
Community connectedness buffer against effects

项目摘要

On average, autistic individuals die twenty-years before non-autistic individuals and one of the leading causes of death is suicide (Hirvikoski et al., 2016). Autistic individuals are also more likely to have depression and anxiety (Gillberg et al., 2016). To date, a substantial amount of research has assumed that poor mental health is inevitable in autistic people (Barnbaum, 2008; Mikami et al., 2009). Relatively little research has focused on how social stress such as discrimination and stigma may be affecting mental health for autistic people, nor protective factors (such as community connectedness). The minority stress model suggests that marginalised groups experience additional stress from discrimination, stigma and marginalisation which leads to health disparities (Meyer, 2003). The minority stress model further suggests that community connectedness (i.e., feeling part of and connected to your community) may give people a form of group-based resilience (Meyer, 2015). As such, this research aimed to investigate whether we can use the minority stress model (Meyer, 2003) for understanding the mental health disparity in the autistic population (Botha & Frost, 2018). A series of studies found that the disparity in mental health between autistic and non-autistic people cannot be explained by general life stress (the kind of stress everyone is exposed to), nor other demographics (such as sexuality, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and gender). Rather, exposure to discrimination and stigma explained most of the mental health and wellbeing of autistic people, whereby more experiences of discrimination and stigma predicted lower wellbeing and higher psychological distress. Being connected to the autistic community lessened the impact of minority stress on mental health (in general). When tested longitudinally, increased exposure to minority stress was associated with significantly worse mental health, while higher autistic community connectedness related to significantly better mental health and wellbeing. These findings indicate that poor mental health in autism is not inevitable, and that instead, it is the result of complicated social processes. This body of work was the first to provide a theoretical and empirical model explaining the disparity in autistic mental health. Furthermore, it was the first to study the effects of stigma and discrimination, or autistic community connectedness on the mental health of autistic people longitudinally.The aim of this fellowship would be to consolidate my PhD and research through the delivery of an ambitious, but achievable programme of research-career affirming activities preparing me for the next stages of my academic career. Over the course of the fellowship I aim to publish this series of studies on mental health and minority stress, to disseminate their findings to maximise impact and engagement (nationally and internationally), expand my research network, further develop specific skills with R programming, carry out limited further research on autism and dehumanisation, and prepare grant applications to continue this important line of research. The objectives of the fellowship all gear towards maximising impact and engagement with the research itself, but also aim to facilitate the establishment of my career. For example, the publication and dissemination of this research will increase the visibility of my research profile, maximise the impact of this vital work on autism, stigma and mental health, while further research, network growth, skills developmental, and grant preparation activities all aim to increase my capacity for a successful academic career.

平均而言，自闭症患者比非自闭症患者早二十年死亡，而自杀是主要原因之一（Hirvikoski et al., 2016）。自闭症患者也更有可能患有抑郁和焦虑（Gillberg et al., 2016）。迄今为止，大量研究认为自闭症患者心理健康状况不佳是不可避免的（Barnbaum，2008；Mikami 等人，2009）。相对较少的研究关注歧视和耻辱等社会压力如何影响自闭症患者的心理健康，也没有关注保护性因素（例如社区联系）。少数群体压力模型表明，边缘化群体承受来自歧视、耻辱和边缘化的额外压力，从而导致健康差异（Meyer，2003）。少数群体压力模型进一步表明，社区联系性（即感觉自己是社区的一部分并与社区有联系）可能会给人们一种基于群体的适应力（Meyer，2015）。因此，本研究旨在调查我们是否可以使用少数群体压力模型（Meyer，2003）来了解自闭症人群的心理健康差异（Botha＆Frost，2018）。一系列研究发现，自闭症患者和非自闭症患者的心理健康差异不能用一般生活压力（每个人都面临的压力）或其他人口统计数据（如性取向、社会经济地位、种族和性别）来解释。相反，遭受歧视和耻辱可以解释自闭症患者的大部分心理健康和福祉，因此更多的歧视和耻辱经历预示着较低的福祉和较高的心理困扰。与自闭症社区的联系减轻了少数群体压力对心理健康（总体而言）的影响。当纵向测试时，少数族裔压力的增加与心理健康状况的显着恶化相关，而自闭症社区连通性的提高与心理健康和福祉的显着改善相关。这些发现表明，自闭症患者的心理健康状况不佳并非不可避免，而是复杂的社会过程的结果。这项工作首次提供了解释自闭症心理健康差异的理论和实证模型。此外，它是第一个纵向研究耻辱和歧视或自闭症社区联系对自闭症患者心理健康的影响的项目。该奖学金的目的是通过提供雄心勃勃但可实现的研究职业肯定活动计划来巩固我的博士学位和研究，为我学术生涯的下一阶段做好准备。在奖学金期间，我的目标是发表这一系列关于心理健康和少数群体压力的研究，传播他们的研究结果，以最大限度地提高影响力和参与度（国内和国际），扩大我的研究网络，进一步发展 R 编程的特定技能，对自闭症和非人化进行有限的进一步研究，并准备拨款申请以继续这一重要的研究方向。该奖学金的目标都是为了最大限度地提高研究本身的影响和参与度，同时也旨在促进我的职业生涯的建立。例如，这项研究的出版和传播将提高我的研究概况的知名度，最大限度地发挥这项重要工作对自闭症、耻辱和心理健康的影响，而进一步的研究、网络发展、技能发展和拨款准备活动都旨在提高我成功学术生涯的能力。