About our research project
Autistic young people are at a higher risk of having mental health problems than non-autistic people. Improving well-being can prevent mental health problems. We will run ‘A-Island groups’, which aim to improve autistic young people’s well-being.
We want to know whether enough young people are interested in taking part in our research, so that we can run a larger project to see if the A-Island groups improve autistic young people’s well-being.
We want to invite 70 autistic young people to participate in our project.
We are looking for people who:
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Are 11-16 years old
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Live in England or Wales
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Have a formal diagnosis of autism
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Have not accessed any post-diagnostic or autism-specific support in the last 12 months.
Each participant will have a 50:50 chance of receiving:
‘A-Island Groups’ (the new online well-being groups)
OR
Usual care (local mental health/autism support)
What are ‘a-island groups’?
We collaborated with autistic adults and young people to design the new groups.
The groups happen online and are in the format of an educational game. During the game, participants will learn about autism and go through the game’s story with other autistic young people. There are eight one-hour groups in total.
How does the research project work?
1. We co-designed the online groups with autistic people.
2. Young people will complete screening questionnaires if they are interested in participating.
3. If they are eligible to participate, they will have a ‘first appointment meeting’ with a researcher to talk about their answers to the screening questionnaire, and to complete more questionnaires.
4. A computer will randomly assign them to ‘A-Island groups’ or ‘Usual Care’, and both of these will last 8 weeks.
5. Participants will complete more questionnaires for a few weeks after the a-island groups/usual care have ended.
6. Each participant will be involved for 24 weeks in total, and they will receive vouchers for each questionnaire they complete (up to £100 in vouchers total).
CURRENT STAGE
How can I find out more?
You can also email us (Contact Us)
If you are interested in taking part, please complete this survey.