A Systematic Review of the Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Psychological Treatment for Mental Health Pr
- PDF / 1,223,352 Bytes
- 18 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 47 Downloads / 254 Views
REVIEW PAPER
A Systematic Review of the Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Psychological Treatment for Mental Health Problems in Individuals on the Autism Spectrum Dawn Adams 1,2
&
Kate Young 2
Received: 13 May 2020 / Accepted: 11 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Individuals on the autism spectrum experience high rates of mental health issues. Meta-analyses indicate promising effects of psychological therapies, but challenges remain in ensuring and supporting access. This systematic review identified 12 studies that report on the barriers and facilitators to accessing psychological treatments for mental health or emotional/behavioural challenges for individuals on the autism spectrum. The most commonly reported barrier was a lack of therapist knowledge or expertise in autism or an inability or unwillingness on the part of the therapist to tailor approaches to support the needs of those on the autism spectrum. Fewer studies identified facilitators to accessing services. The findings highlight avenues for improving access to mental health services for individuals on the autism spectrum. Keywords Autism . Mental health . Therapy . Intervention . Anxiety . Behaviour
Autism spectrum disorder (hereafter autism) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by differences or difficulties in social communication and the presence of restrictive and repetitive behaviours (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Many individuals on the autism spectrum will experience co-occurring conditions, one of the most frequently reported being mental health or psychiatric conditions. Meta-analyses suggest prevalence rates of anxiety to be 40% in children on the autism spectrum (Van Steensel et al. 2011) and 27% in adults on the autism spectrum (Hollocks et al. 2019). Meta-analyses have also reported prevalence rates for depression across adolescents and adults on the autism spectrum of around 11–12% (e.g. Hudson et al. 2019). A recent umbrella meta-analysis (Lai et al. 2019) combined data from 68 studies and 169,829 participants with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum to suggest a pooled prevalence of 20% for anxiety disorders across the lifespan. The
* Dawn Adams [email protected] 1
Autism Centre of Excellence, Griffith University, Messines Ridge Road, Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD 4122, Australia
2
Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Messines Ridge Road, Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD 4122, Australia
combined data from 65 studies and 162,671 participants within this meta-analysis also suggested a pooled prevalence of 11% for depressive disorders for individuals on the autism spectrum. These prevalence rates are notably higher than those reported in general population meta-analyses (general population worldwide pooled prevalence anxiety child/adolescent, 6.5%; lifetime, 12.9%; depression child/adolescent, 2.6%; lifetime mood disorders, 5.4%; Polanczyk et al. 2015; Steel et al. 2014). There is growing research documenting t
Data Loading...
