Question

The title of the article is: “Anxiety in adults with autism: Perspectives from practitioners by Kirsty Ainswortha, Ashley E. Robertsonb, Heather Welshc, Matthew Dayd, Jane Watte, Fiona Barrye, Andrew Stanfieldf, Craig Melville”. Answer the following question according to the article.

Question 5.

A. Do the researchers discuss the relevance of the findings to clinical practice?

B. Do the researchers discuss how this study adds to current science?

C. Do the researchers make any suggestions for future research based on their findings?

D. How will the findings influence nursing practice?

E. How do the researchers handle bias?

F. Do the researchers discuss data saturation?

Answer 1

A- ##Anxiety is common in autistic adults and significantly limits everyday opportunities and quality of life.

Evidence-based psychological therapies offered by mental health services often fail to meet the needs of autistic adults.

The development of appropriate treatments for mental health conditions and, in particular, anxiety has been identified as a key priority by the autism community.

The Personalised Anxiety Treatment–Autism (PAT-A) trial aims to address this need by investigating the feasibility and acceptability of delivering an individualised psychological treatment for anxiety experienced by autistic adults.

B- ##This is a pilot randomised controlled feasibility trial. Up to 40 autistic adults with clinically diagnosed anxiety will be randomised into one of two groups (either the PAT-A intervention or Current Clinical Services Plus two emotional literacy skills sessions).

Before randomisation, participants will receive a detailed clinical assessment to inform formulation and guide anxiety treatment.

As part of the baseline assessment participants will also identify two personally important ‘target situations’ that cause significant anxiety and impact upon their daily life.

Based upon the formulation and identified target situations, participants randomised to the PAT-C intervention will receive up to 12 individualised, one-to-one therapy sessions.

C-##The trial has two arms; an intervention arm (Personalised Anxiety Treatment–Autism; PAT-A c) and a control arm (Current Clinical Services Plus; CCSP).

Adults aged 18 years or above with a clinical diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder and at least one clinically recognised anxiety disorder that may benefit from psychological therapy will be included.

All recruited participants will live in North East England and have accessed care from a local NHS mental health trust.

D- ## •Anxiety affects a large proportion of the autistic population and can have a significant impact on the lives of these individuals.

•Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews with practitioners who work closely with adults who are on the spectrum and have anxiety.

• Practitioners often modify their standard anxiety interventions to suit adults with autism but this varies and is inconsistent.

•Practitioners also reported thinking inventively and that adults with autism may particularly benefit from continued support with anxiety.

• Current measures may not accurately gauge anxiety in adults with autism.

E-## Current global estimates suggest the proportion of the population with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have intellectual disability (ID) is approximately 50%.

Our objective was to ascertain the existence of selection bias due to under-inclusion of populations with ID across all fields of autism research.

A sub-goal was to evaluate inconsistencies in reporting of findings.

F-##More than 40% of adults with autism have one, or more, mental health conditions, including, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), low mood and depression, psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder.