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.
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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. ​​
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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)
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OR
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Usual care (local mental health/autism support)​
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​​What are ‘a-island groups’?
​​We collaborated with autistic adults and young people to design the new groups.
The groups happen online and are based on a roleplaying game (like Dungeons and Dragons). 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.
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2. Young people will complete screening questionnaires if they are interested in participating.
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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).
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CURRENT STAGE
​How can I find out more?
You can also email us (Contact Us)