EDIFY
Research type
Research Study
Full title
EDIFY: Exploring Differences in Imagery of the Future in Young People
IRAS ID
289290
Contact name
Alex Lau-Zhu
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 22 days
Research summary
Research Summary
The ability to think about the future involves using mental imagery and is important for planning, problem-solving, and emotional regulation, but little is known about future imagery in young people. Understanding psychological processes such as imagery can help identify unique cognitive profiles of young people with different needs, and also select promising targets for mental health interventions. This study aims to compare future imagery in three groups of young people (aged 10-16): 1) young people with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); 2) young people with a history of childhood maltreatment; 3) young people without a diagnosis of ASD and without a history of maltreatment. Participants will be recruited from the NHS, the third sector and schools in Oxfordshire. Young people will complete measures assessing voluntary and involuntary future imagery, intellectual functioning, mental health and trauma history. For each young person, a caregiver or keyworker will also complete measures on mental health and developmental history. The study will be conducted via online survey.
Summary of Results
Exploring Differences in Imagery of the Future in Young People: Findings Report
Why were we interested in “future thinking”?
Future thinking helps us plan, solve problems, and form our identity. It is also important for adolescents as they grow up and begin to think about their future lives, including education, career, and relationships. Future thinking is key to emotions and mental health. Imagining a positive outcome in the future (e.g., picturing yourself doing well in an exam or enjoying a holiday) can motivate us to achieve our goals. But imagining things going wrong can be distressing and deflating (e.g., failing an exam or having holiday plans disrupted).Why were we interested in autism and “developmental trauma”?
-Young people (YP) on the autism spectrum and YP with experiences of early adversity (sometimes called “developmental trauma” or “childhood maltreatment”) can experience many challenges in life (e.g., social interactions, learning, emotions, etc.) often needing extra support. These YP are also vulnerable to mental health difficulties (e.g., depression & anxiety). Professionals can find it difficult to tease apart challenges due to autism or to “developmental trauma”. Understanding future thinking could help us select and design better support for them (e.g., mental-health interventions).What did we do?
We recruited three groups of YP aged 10-16: i) autistic YP (without developmental trauma); ii) YP with developmental trauma (without autism); iii) typically-developing YP (with neither autism nor developmental trauma). We recruited them from NHS, social care, and the community (e.g., social media). YP (and one of their caregivers) completed an online survey that included measures of future thinking and mental health.What did we find?
YP with developmental trauma had difficulties with future thinking: they generated fewer specific future events compared to typically-developing YP. Autistic YP did not differ from the other two groups in this aspect of future thinking. YP that were less able to be specific about the future were also more likely to report depression symptoms (particularly autistic YP).What are the real-world implications?
Professionals may find it helpful to assess future thinking in YP with developmental trauma, as this can help better understand a wide range of their difficulties. Professionals may be able to distinguish the impact of developmental trauma from the impact of autism by assessing difficulties with future thinking (although this research is still at early stage). Improve future thinking in these YP (particularly in autistic YP) may help alleviate difficulties with depression.What are some limitations of our study?
We did not have a group of YP with both autism and developmental trauma. We need a bigger sample size to detect potentially subtler difficulties with future thinking in autistic YP. We cannot confirm depression causes difficulties with future thinking.REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0125
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jun 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion