Advancing Mental Health Supports for Autistic Postsecondary Students: A Call for Research

Gunin, Gabrielle B.; Gravino, Amy; Bal, Vanessa H.

doi:10.1089/aut.2020.0044

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Results of current research established that educational equity put 81% effect on promoting students mental health with the formation of significant equation (F (3, 984) = 4194.32, p < .05) that are congruent with results of research structured by Reyes et al (2013) whose findings revealed resilience is good predictor on students mental health, and strongly recommends that there is dire need to construct guidelines for students to follow and implement and acquire equitable education having diverse abilities. Moreover, the results of the research conducted by Campbell (2020) established that application of equitable education among students arouse them towards educational success and reduce gender disparities, which also support with findings of doctoral dissertation structured by D'Azevedo (2015), whose findings revealed that equitable education among students enhances students perception towards promoting their school, race and mental health, and also support with the results of the other studies (Foster et al, 2018;Gunin et al, 2021;Nygreen, 2016). Results of the current research strongly congruent with the findings of studies (Gaias et al, 2021;Krass & Doupnik, 2021;Martin & Oswin, 2010;Trinidad, 2021) structured in other parts of the world whose findings revealed that provision of equitable education among students continuously enhance students mental health.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

The Back Burner: Educational Equity, Resilience, and Psychological Well-Being as a Predictor on Promoting Students Mental Health

Hassan

Butt

2021

HSSR

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Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the current research was to determine the effect of equitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being on promoting student's mental health. The researchers eagerly explored everyday situations happening in male elementary schools of district Lahore, focusing on pandemic situations with zeal and zest. Methodology: The researchers structured causal-comparative research focusing positivist paradigm on a sample of randomly selected 980 respondents enrolled in male elementary schools of district Lahore of Punjab-Pakistan. The authors collected the data after administering Scott (2006) Educational Equity and school reforms Scale, Prince-Embury (2013) Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents, Ryff’s (1989) Psychological Well-beings Scale, and Lukat et al. (2016) Positive Mental Health Scale. After ensuring ethical considerations, the researchers run regression technique, one way; ANOVA and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) on the participants data. Main findings: The findings revealed that educational equity effect 81%, resilience 87.10%, and psychological well-being affect 66.60% in promoting students mental health. Educational equity, resilience, and psychological well-being have the same effect on 6th, 7th, and 8th grades students in promoting their mental health. Further a significant strong association between educational equity and mental health (r = .900**, n = 985, p < .05), resilience and mental health (r = .946**, n = 984, p < .05) and psychological well-beings and students mental health (r = .815**, n = 985, p < .05). Applications of this study: The results of the research will be applicable for headteachers, teachers, and parents to get aware of the worth of equitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being that play an enormous role in promoting students mental health. The debatable constructs of the current research will provide capable stakeholders to know the entire magnitude of mental health that drastically instigate and enhance student's vigour, attentiveness, dependability, intellectual ability, and optimism. Novelty/originality of this study: It is evident from the literature that less work is conducted inequitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being that play a massive role in promoting students mental health. In the case of Pakistan, the situation is very alarming and the meager because none of the researchers took initiative to framed research on these burning constructs. However, this research will opened new dimensions for the future researchers that will raise their intentions to explore the effect of primary, secondary, higher secondary, and tertiary level students equitable education, resilience, and psychological well-being on their mental health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

The Back Burner: Educational Equity, Resilience, and Psychological Well-Being as a Predictor on Promoting Students Mental Health

Hassan

Butt

2021

HSSR

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“…This finding fits with the extant literature on autistic mental health more generally, which shows higher prevalence (e.g., Lai et al, 2019 ), and corroborates Gurbuz et al’s (2019) findings which indicated higher mental health difficulties for autistic students, but did not use validated measures of symptoms. Higher quality mental health support for autistic students is clearly needed, ideally designed with and for autistic students, rather than simply adapting non-autistic supports ( Gunin et al, 2021 ). Our findings on coping styles could also provide insight on how autistic students could be supported to cope with mental health difficulties.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

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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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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“…Autistic university students often exhibit academic strengths relative to their non-autistic peers; however, they may also face mental health challenges (Fernandes et al, 2021; Sturm & Kasari, 2019). Consequently, identifying factors that support the well-being of autistic students has been identified as a priority (Gunin et al, 2021). This study aims to determine whether learning one is autistic at a younger age is associated with higher well-being and quality of life (QoL) among autistic university students.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does learning you are autistic at a younger age lead to better adult outcomes? A participatory exploration of the perspectives of autistic university students

Oredipe

Kofner

Riccio

et al. 2022

Autism

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Many autistic people do not learn they are autistic until adulthood. Parents may wait to tell a child they are autistic until they feel the child is “ready.” In this study, a participatory team of autistic and non-autistic researchers examined whether learning one is autistic at a younger age is associated with heightened well-being and Autism-Specific Quality of Life among autistic university students. Autistic students ( n = 78) completed an online survey. They shared when and how they learned they were autistic, how they felt about autism when first learning they are autistic and now, and when they would tell autistic children about their autism. Learning one is autistic earlier was associated with heightened quality of life and well-being in adulthood. However, learning one is autistic at an older age was associated with more positive emotions about autism when first learning one is autistic. Participants expressed both positive and negative emotions about autism and highlighted contextual factors to consider when telling a child about autism. Findings suggest that telling a child that they are autistic at a younger age empowers them by providing access to support and a foundation for self-understanding that helps them thrive in adulthood. Lay abstract People learn they are autistic at different ages. We wanted to know if telling kids they are autistic earlier helps them feel better about their lives when they grow up. We are a team of autistic and non-autistic students and professors. Seventy-eight autistic university students did our online survey. They shared how they found out they were autistic and how they felt about being autistic. They also shared how they feel about their lives now. Around the same number of students learned they were autistic from doctors and parents. Students who learned they were autistic when they were younger felt happier about their lives than people who learned they were autistic when they were older. Students who learned they were autistic when they were older felt happier about being autistic when they first found out than people who did not have to wait as long. Our study shows that it is probably best to tell people they are autistic as soon as possible. The students who did our study did not think it was a good idea to wait until children are adults to tell them they are autistic. They said that parents should tell their children they are autistic in ways that help them understand and feel good about who they are.

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Advancing Mental Health Supports for Autistic Postsecondary Students: A Call for Research

Cited by 13 publications

References 51 publications

The Back Burner: Educational Equity, Resilience, and Psychological Well-Being as a Predictor on Promoting Students Mental Health

The Back Burner: Educational Equity, Resilience, and Psychological Well-Being as a Predictor on Promoting Students Mental Health

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

Does learning you are autistic at a younger age lead to better adult outcomes? A participatory exploration of the perspectives of autistic university students

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