Parent perspectives of what helps and hinders their child on the autism spectrum to manage their anxiety

Abstract

Objectives

Although anxiety is recognised as one of the most common co‐occurring conditions to affect school‐aged children with an autism spectrum disorder, little research has explored the strategies that children on the autism spectrum use to manage their own anxiety.

Methods

Seventy‐two parents of children on the spectrum aged 5 to 17-years identified things that supported their child to manage their anxiety (enablers) and things that hindered their child's management of anxiety (barriers) across the home, school, and community. Using content analysis, parents' open‐ended responses were coded into a series of subcategories for each setting.

Results

At home, “routine, modifications, and adaptations” was the most frequently reported enabler while “social, communication, and personal challenges” was the most frequently reported barrier to managing anxiety. “Supports and strategies (at school/in the community)” was the most commonly identified enabler that supported children to manage their anxiety in both the school and community environments. “Overstimulation, unpredictability, and demands (at school/in the community)” was the most commonly identified barrier hindering children's management of anxiety in both the school and community settings.

Conclusions

Given the wide range of barriers and enablers identified, working with children and families to identify the barriers and enablers for each child in managing their anxiety may be a useful process during therapy. Targeting interventions to align with the identified barriers and enablers may assist children on the autism spectrum to develop strategies for the management of their own anxiety across settings.

Key words:

• anxiety
• barriers
• cross‐contextual
• enablers

Notes

1 The term “on the autism spectrum” or “on the spectrum” is used in concordance with preferences of individuals on the autism spectrum, their parents and professionals working in this area (Kenny et al., 2016).