Cargando…
A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma
BACKGROUND: Coping can moderate the relationship between trauma exposure and trauma symptoms. There are many conceptualisations of coping in the general population, but limited research has considered how autistic individuals cope, despite their above-average rates of traumatic exposure. OBJECTIVES:...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9329569/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35911211 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.825008 |
_version_ | 1784757944613601280 |
---|---|
author | Ng-Cordell, Elise Rai, Anika Peracha, Hira Garfield, Tamara Lankenau, Stephen E. Robins, Diana L. Berkowitz, Steven J. Newschaffer, Craig Kerns, Connor M. |
author_facet | Ng-Cordell, Elise Rai, Anika Peracha, Hira Garfield, Tamara Lankenau, Stephen E. Robins, Diana L. Berkowitz, Steven J. Newschaffer, Craig Kerns, Connor M. |
author_sort | Ng-Cordell, Elise |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Coping can moderate the relationship between trauma exposure and trauma symptoms. There are many conceptualisations of coping in the general population, but limited research has considered how autistic individuals cope, despite their above-average rates of traumatic exposure. OBJECTIVES: To describe the range of coping strategies autistic individuals use following traumatic events. METHODS: Fourteen autistic adults and 15 caregivers of autistic individuals, recruited via stratified purposive sampling, completed semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked to describe how they/their child attempted to cope with events they perceived as traumatic. Using an existing theoretical framework and reflexive thematic analysis, coping strategies were identified, described, and organized into themes. RESULTS: Coping strategies used by autistic individuals could be organized into 3 main themes: (1) Engaging with Trauma, (2) Disengaging from Trauma, and (3) Self-Regulatory Coping. After the three main themes were developed, a fourth integrative theme, Diagnostic Overshadowing, was created to capture participants' reports of the overlap or confusion between coping and autism-related behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Autistic individuals use many strategies to cope with trauma, many of which are traditionally recognized as coping, but some of which may be less easily recognized given their overlap with autism-related behaviors. Findings highlight considerations for conceptualizing coping in autism, including factors influencing how individuals cope with trauma, and how aspects of autism may shape or overlap with coping behavior. Research building on these findings may inform a more nuanced understanding of how autistic people respond to adversity, and how to support coping strategies that promote recovery from trauma. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9329569 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-93295692022-07-29 A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma Ng-Cordell, Elise Rai, Anika Peracha, Hira Garfield, Tamara Lankenau, Stephen E. Robins, Diana L. Berkowitz, Steven J. Newschaffer, Craig Kerns, Connor M. Front Psychiatry Psychiatry BACKGROUND: Coping can moderate the relationship between trauma exposure and trauma symptoms. There are many conceptualisations of coping in the general population, but limited research has considered how autistic individuals cope, despite their above-average rates of traumatic exposure. OBJECTIVES: To describe the range of coping strategies autistic individuals use following traumatic events. METHODS: Fourteen autistic adults and 15 caregivers of autistic individuals, recruited via stratified purposive sampling, completed semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked to describe how they/their child attempted to cope with events they perceived as traumatic. Using an existing theoretical framework and reflexive thematic analysis, coping strategies were identified, described, and organized into themes. RESULTS: Coping strategies used by autistic individuals could be organized into 3 main themes: (1) Engaging with Trauma, (2) Disengaging from Trauma, and (3) Self-Regulatory Coping. After the three main themes were developed, a fourth integrative theme, Diagnostic Overshadowing, was created to capture participants' reports of the overlap or confusion between coping and autism-related behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Autistic individuals use many strategies to cope with trauma, many of which are traditionally recognized as coping, but some of which may be less easily recognized given their overlap with autism-related behaviors. Findings highlight considerations for conceptualizing coping in autism, including factors influencing how individuals cope with trauma, and how aspects of autism may shape or overlap with coping behavior. Research building on these findings may inform a more nuanced understanding of how autistic people respond to adversity, and how to support coping strategies that promote recovery from trauma. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-07-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9329569/ /pubmed/35911211 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.825008 Text en Copyright © 2022 Ng-Cordell, Rai, Peracha, Garfield, Lankenau, Robins, Berkowitz, Newschaffer and Kerns. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychiatry Ng-Cordell, Elise Rai, Anika Peracha, Hira Garfield, Tamara Lankenau, Stephen E. Robins, Diana L. Berkowitz, Steven J. Newschaffer, Craig Kerns, Connor M. A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma |
title | A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma |
title_full | A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma |
title_fullStr | A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma |
title_full_unstemmed | A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma |
title_short | A Qualitative Study of Self and Caregiver Perspectives on How Autistic Individuals Cope With Trauma |
title_sort | qualitative study of self and caregiver perspectives on how autistic individuals cope with trauma |
topic | Psychiatry |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9329569/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35911211 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.825008 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT ngcordellelise aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT raianika aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT perachahira aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT garfieldtamara aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT lankenaustephene aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT robinsdianal aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT berkowitzstevenj aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT newschaffercraig aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT kernsconnorm aqualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT ngcordellelise qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT raianika qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT perachahira qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT garfieldtamara qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT lankenaustephene qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT robinsdianal qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT berkowitzstevenj qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT newschaffercraig qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma AT kernsconnorm qualitativestudyofselfandcaregiverperspectivesonhowautisticindividualscopewithtrauma |