Autistic individuals, across all age groups, often encounter numerous challenges when seeking mental health support, as they are more likely to experience co-occurring mental health difficulties that significantly impact their health outcomes and quality of life. Despite these challenges, they are less likely to receive the adequate care they require, leading to dissatisfaction, unmet needs, and potential harmful effects reported by autistic adults. Standard mental health care for children and young people also falls short in meeting their preferences and needs, indicating the need for improved and tailored mental health services for autistic individuals.
Barriers to effective mental health support for autistic individuals include a lack of tailored care and the difficulty clinicians face in distinguishing between symptoms of mental health issues and traits of autism, which can result in misdiagnosis and hinder effective treatment. Research is essential to explore strategies used to tailor treatments for autistic individuals with mental health difficulties. As a response, systematic reviews have been conducted by Pemovska, Loizou, and colleagues, focusing on autistic adults and children and young people, to investigate strategies, their acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness in improving mental health care for autistic individuals.
The reviews included a total of 57 papers for children and young people and 30 papers for adults, covering a variety of study designs and interventions, with a focus on interventions such as CBT for anxiety. Results revealed that adaptations in communication, environmental adjustments, increased knowledge and detection of autism, accommodating individual differences, intervention content, intervention structure, and involving a wider support network for children and young people were key areas where improvements were made in mental health care for autistic individuals.
While most interventions and strategies were found to be feasible and acceptable, evidence of their effectiveness varied, with low to moderate ratings according to the GRADE system. Additionally, a meta-analysis conducted on CBT interventions for children and young people showed significant group differences in reducing anxiety levels. However, caution must be exercised due to evidence of publication bias.
While efforts have been made to improve mental health care for autistic individuals, there is still a need for more inclusive research practices and detailed reporting of interventions to enhance the quality of care provided. These reviews provide valuable insight to inform interventions and adaptations in mental health services tailored to the needs of autistic individuals.
