Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Brief COPE in autistic older adolescents and adults

Muniandy, Melanie; Richdale, Amanda L.; Arnold, Samuel R. C.; Trollor, Julian N.; Lawson, Lauren P.

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101764

Cited by 12 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Interestingly, we found no difference in coping styles between autistic and non-autistic students, which could indicate that there are few differences in the ways these students cope with stress. Alternatively, it could be that we missed some of the different coping strategies used by autistic people ( Muniandy et al, 2021 ) – in an interview study, Anderson et al (2020) identified “working hard,” “part-time enrolment,” “extended breaks,” “changing discipline,” and “camouflaging” as strategies former autistic students had used to cope at university. Given the high levels of mental health challenges, burnout, and thoughts about dropping out, further research on the coping strategies of autistic students would be useful so that we can better understand how these students can be best supported to cope with the pressures of university life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Burnt Out and Dropping Out: A Comparison of the Experiences of Autistic and Non-autistic Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cage

McManemy

2022

Front. Psychol.

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Autistic students are more likely to drop out of university, while facing both challenges and opportunities within university environments. This study compared the experiences of autistic and non-autistic current United Kingdom students, in terms of thoughts about dropping out, burnout, mental health and coping, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Burnout was of particular interest as this is a relatively unexamined phenomenon for autistic students. Seventy autistic and 315 non-autistic students, completed a mixed methods questionnaire with standardized measures of burnout (personal and academic), mental health (depression, stress, and anxiety), and coping styles (adaptive and maladaptive). We also included qualitative questions about dropping out and COVID-19 experiences. We found autistic participants experienced higher rates of burnout and mental health symptoms and were more likely to have thought about dropping out. Reasons given for thinking about dropping out, for both groups, focused on poor mental well-being, doubts about university, and academic challenges. For autistic participants, further analyses did not identify specific predictors of thinking about dropping out, but for non-autistic participants, this was predicted by maladaptive coping styles and academic burnout. Academic and personal burnout predicted one another for autistic students, and age, maladaptive coping, autistic characteristics, stress, and anxiety additionally predicted burnout for non-autistic students. Similarities in experiences during the pandemic were noted, with both groups experiencing negative social implications, difficulties adjusting to emergency online learning, and poorer psychological well-being. Moving forward from COVID-19, universities must find ways to enhance both academic and social support, to enable equal opportunity within Higher Education for autistic students.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Internal reliability was good for adaptive coping (non-autistic α = 0.78, autistic α = 0.81) and acceptable for maladaptive coping (non-autistic α = 0.67, autistic α = 0.68). This measure has previously been validated for use with autistic people ( Muniandy et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burnt Out and Dropping Out: A Comparison of the Experiences of Autistic and Non-autistic Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cage

McManemy

2022

Front. Psychol.

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“…Ratings are on a 4‐point Likert‐type scale ranging from I have not been doing this at all (1) to I have been doing this a lot (4). Six coping categories were utilized based on Muniandy et al (2021a), where all categories had good internal consistencies in both the autistic ( α range: 0.76–0.95) and non‐autistic ( α range: 0.80–0.94) samples.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relatedly, coping was assessed more generally, using a dispositional (i.e., strategies usually employed across stressful situations), rather than a situational approach (i.e., strategies utilized in response to a specific encounter), allowing us to limit individual differences such as variability in stressful encounters. Coping strategies were grouped into six categories (i.e., engagement, support seeking, disengagement, substance-use, humor and religious coping) in both the autistic and non-autistic adult samples, as informed by the six-factor structures previously identified in Muniandy et al (2021a).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies across non‐autistic samples examining the factor structure of widely used coping measures, such as the Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) typically identify more than two coping dimensions (see review by Krägeloh, 2010). Similarly, in a study with autistic adults, six coping dimensions were identified using the Brief COPE, two of which closely mapped onto engagement/approach and disengagement/avoidance coping (labeled ‘engagement coping’ and ‘disengagement coping’ respectively), while the other four coping dimensions (i.e., support seeking, substance‐use, humor and religious coping) remained distinct (Muniandy et al, 2021a).…”

Section: Associations Between Coping Strategies and Mental Health Out...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Associations between coping strategies and mental health outcomes in autistic adults

et al. 2022

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Compared to the general population, mental health difficulties are commonly reported in autistic adults. However, the ways in which coping strategies are associated with mental health and well‐being in this population remain unknown. Further, we do not know if, and if so, how these associations might differ to that of non‐autistic adults. In this study, we hypothesized that in both our autistic (N = 255) and non‐autistic (N = 165) adult samples, disengagement coping strategies (e.g., denial) would relate to poorer mental health and well‐being, while engagement coping strategies (e.g., problem solving) would relate to better mental health and well‐being. Regression analyses revealed that higher use of disengagement coping strategies was significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression, and lower levels of well‐being in both samples. In contrast, increased use of engagement coping strategies was associated with better well‐being, but only in the autistic sample. Our results contribute to the characterization of negative and positive mental health outcomes in autistic adults from a coping perspective, with potential to offer novel information regarding coping strategies to consider when addressing support options for mental health difficulties in the autistic adult population. Lay Summary Mental health conditions (such as anxiety and depression) and poor well‐being are commonly reported in autistic adults. Research suggests that how one copes with stress is associated with one's mental health and well‐being. However, we have little information about how coping strategies relate to the mental health of autistic adults, and whether this might be different in non‐autistic adults. In this study, we examined the relationship between coping strategies and mental health in a large group of autistic individuals aged 15–80 years. We then compared this with similar aged non‐autistic individuals. We found that in both the autistic and non‐autistic individuals, using more disengagement coping strategies (such as being in denial, blaming oneself) was related to poorer mental health and well‐being. Additionally, using more engagement coping strategies (such as problem solving, acceptance) was related to better mental health and well‐being, but only in the autistic individuals. These results can help inform support services, as they highlight the coping strategies that may need to be focused on (i.e., developing engagement coping strategies and reducing disengagement coping strategies) in order to better support the mental health of autistic individuals.

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Inter‐relationships between trait resilience, coping strategies, and mental health outcomes in autistic adults

et al. 2021

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Resilience has been depicted as a key characteristic in the promotion of mental health in the face of stress and adversity. Despite high levels of stress encountered in the autistic population, resilience studies remain scarce. Using data from an Australian longitudinal adult study, this study explored the inter-relationships between trait resilience, coping, and mental health in a sample of autistic adults (N = 78). In particular, we examined the relationship between resilience and use of coping strategies, and the potential mediating role of coping strategies in the relationship between resilience and mental health outcomes. Our findings suggested that increased use of engagement coping (e.g., problem-solving, positive appraisal) and decreased use of disengagement coping (e.g., self-blame, being in denial) strategies were associated with higher levels of resilience. Further, mediation analysis results suggest that disengagement coping mediated the associations between resilience and all three mental health outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and well-being), while engagement coping strategies mediated the relationship between resilience and well-being only. Our results illustrate that coping strategies may be an important mechanism in explaining the resilience-mental health relationship in autistic adults, highlighting the importance of considering stressrelated constructs together (i.e., trait resilience and coping) when addressing support and intervention options for mental health difficulties in the autistic adult population. Lay SummaryThis research explored how resilience and coping strategies influence the mental health and well-being of autistic adults. We found that resilient autistic adults used more engagement coping strategies, less disengagement coping strategies, and reported better mental health and well-being. Considering stress-related factors together (i.e., resilience and coping) offers a novel perspective to mental health difficulties in autistic adults and may be a vital step in the development of support options in this population.

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Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Brief COPE in autistic older adolescents and adults

Cited by 12 publications

References 85 publications

Burnt Out and Dropping Out: A Comparison of the Experiences of Autistic and Non-autistic Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Burnt Out and Dropping Out: A Comparison of the Experiences of Autistic and Non-autistic Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Associations between coping strategies and mental health outcomes in autistic adults

Inter‐relationships between trait resilience, coping strategies, and mental health outcomes in autistic adults

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