Health and wellbeing
We aim to understand factors that influence the health and wellbeing of autistic people. These help to inform and enhance supports and practices across the lifespan.
Research theme leader:
Associate Professor Darren Hedley
Researchers:
Katy Unwin, Simon Bury, Cheryl Dissanayake, Amanda Richdale, Lauren Lawson,
We achieve these aims through advocacy and policy development, academic research, and working with autistic people.
We have:
- trained the workforce to better support the health and wellbeing needs of autistic workers
- developed suicide prevention tools and education programs
- delivered training to allied health professionals
- conducted research in the areas of anxiety, depression, sleep, and suicide prevention.
The high rate of suicide and co-occurring health and other conditions makes the autistic community a priority group for action. Policies that improve access to high quality allied healthcare delivered by a trained and experienced workforce are critical. This work needs to be underpinned by high quality research that meets the priorities and goals of autistic people.
The Suicide Response Project (SRP)
The SRP provides tips for the general public on how to detect and respond to suicide risk in others.
Is the source of autism knowledge related to differences in autism knowledge, autism identity, and experiences of stigma?
Read the online presentation below based on recent OTARC research.
- Suicidal behaviours and prevention in Autistic youth - AUTISM ADVOCATE Parenting Magazine
- Research to reduce insomnia in autistic adults - La Trobe News 2023
- What are ‘masking’ and ‘camouflaging’ in the context of autism and ADHD? - The Conversation
- Suicidal behaviors and prevention in autistic youth - Autism Advocate Parenting Magazine Inc.
- Cracking autism’s sleep conundrum - Spectrum News 2022
- Website to prevent suicide - La Trobe News 2021
- Autistic children’s sleep problems linked to behavioral regulation issues - Spectrum News 2021
- Strategies for helping autistic children (and their families) get a good night's sleep - ABC Life 2019
- Landmark summit on autism health care kicks off - Spectrum News 2019
Resilience Experiences and Perspectives in Autistic Adults
Funding: La trobe university
Melanie Muniandy, Lauren Lawson, Megan Clark, & Amanda Richdale
Suicide prevention and mental health & well-being in autistic adults
Funding: Suicide Prevention Australia
People with autism are at significant increased risk of dying by suicide compared to the general population. The study seeks to determine a) what factors are protective against suicide in autistic individuals and b) the underlying mechanisms by which these protective factors operate.
SLEAPI: Intervention for insomnia in adults with autism spectrum disorder
Funding: La Trobe University
SLEAPI is a brief, novel, group-based insomnia intervention combining Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Behaviour Therapy (BT) to treat insomnia in autistic adults. The aim of this project is to implement and evaluate the efficacy of SLEAPI to reduce insomnia symptoms and improve mental health and wellbeing.
Amanda Richdale, Eric Morris, Lauren Lawson
Understanding what constitutes to good mental healthcare practice for autistic adults
Funding: La Trobe University
To explore autistic adults' experiences of mental ill-health and mental healthcare and to investigate what constitutes and enables good mental healthcare practice for autistic adults from the perspective of both consumers and mental health care providers.
Robyn Ball (PhD candidate), Eric Morris, Lauren Lawson, Amanda Richdale
Influence of autism symptoms and transdiagnostic factors on anxiety, depression and insomnia in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Funding: La Trobe University
Autistic adolescents and adults experience common co-occurring conditions such as insomnia, anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between insomnia, anxiety and depression among adolescents and adults with autism, through identifying the contribution of transdiagnostic factors such as sensory sensitivity, somatic arousal and intolerance of uncertainty.
Alexa Jordan Chalmers, Amanda Richdale, Lauren Lawson
Self-determination as a mediator between autistic traits and quality of life’
Funding: La Trobe University
We investigated the psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions associated with substance use disorders in autistic individuals as compared to a clinical control group.
Cross-sectional and longitudinal predictors of sleep problems in young autistic children from the ASDetect Cohort
Funding: Social Research Assistance Platform, La Trobe.
Amanda Richdale, Josephine Barbaro, Nancy Sadka
Characterising autistic burnout and its underlying mechanisms: An exploratory investigation
Jane Mantzalas (PhD candidate), Amanda Richdale, Cheryl Dissanayake
The Impact of Psychological Inflexibility Processes on Pre-Sleep Arousal and Sleep Quality
Lisa Mastin-Purcell (honours graduate), Eric Morris, Amanda Richdale
Examining Psychological Flexibility and other Transdiagnostic Psychological Processes in Poor Sleep
Michael Glas (honours graduate), Eric Morris, Amanda Richdale
Coping and Resilience and Relationships with Mental Health in Autistic Adults
Funding: Autism CRC
To date, little is known about coping styles and profiles in adults with ASD, and how these may be associated with other factors such as mental health, social support and resilience. Furthering the understanding of coping and resilience in adults with ASD will help identify areas that can be targeted for relevant interventions, in the broader aim of promoting better outcomes for adults with ASD. The aim of this project is to explore coping in adults with ASD, specifically through investigating coping styles and profiles, stability over time, determinants of coping and the predictive role of coping on mental health and resilience.
Melanie Muniandy (PhD candidate), Amanda Richdale, Lauren Lawson
Inter-Relationships Between Autistic traits and Elements of Depression, Sleep Quality, and Fatigue in Autistic Adolescents and Adults: A Network Analysis.
Funding: La Trobe University
Autistic people are at increased risk of experiencing depression, sleep difficulties, and fatigue compared to the general population. Yet our understanding of these relationships in autistic people, including the role of autistic traits, remains limited. The aim of this study was to use network analysis to understand the relationships between depression, sleep, fatigue and autism traits at both a full-scale and individual item level.
Louise Dickens, Eric Morris, Amanda Richdale
Coping and Emotional Distress in Family Caregivers of Autistic Young Adults.
Funding: La Trobe University
Family caregivers of autistic young adults experience higher rates of anxiety and depression than the general population, yet little is known about the influence of coping on emotional distress in this cohort. This study examined cross-sectional relationships among caregivers’ coping responses, emotional distress (symptoms of anxiety and depression), and selected background variables (caregiver and young adult autistic traits, caregiver strain).
Carol Bryden, Amanda Richdale, Eric Morris
The Campbell Collaboration
The Campbell Collaboration promotes positive social and economic change through the production and use of systematic reviews for evidence-based policy and practice. Associate Professor Darren Hedley conducted a systematic review of interventions for anxiety in children with autism.