Interpersonal Relationships Amongst Young People with Autism (V1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Adolescents with Autism Experience of Interpersonal Relationships within a Secure Inpatient Setting
IRAS ID
218287
Contact name
Kate Carey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
The research aims to develop an awareness of the experiences of relationships for young people with autism within a secure setting, with a secondary aim of exploring the potential impact of these relationships on personal and clinical factors. This is an under-researched area at present and therefore the study aims to build on the current research in this area. This would include a consideration of all relationships (positive and negative) at present, and a consideration of how these have changed or developed over time, considering reasons for this, as well as the value of these relationships for the young people. Current evidence highlights that strong social relationships positively influence adolescent adjustment, few studies have investigated those with disabilities and fewer have investigated multiple relationships concurrently. Participants would be recruited from secure services for adolescents within St Andrew's Healthcare Northampton, with approximately 16 participants being sought (over-sampling in case of less rich data sets). Interviews will be used, which will involve a visual mapping component, which is considered will help to get rich information from participants who may struggle with a traditional interview approach. The visual mapping component would involve participants placing visual representations of those people in their lives onto a piece of paper with themselves in the middle. They would be asked to place individuals on this paper close or far from themselves to highlight the perceived importance of the relationship. Questions will then be asked to ascertain the nature and experienced quality and importance of these relationships. The data will be analysed using a method appropriate to the richness and quality of the data obtained, with themes being identified from within the data sets.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/WM/0035
Date of REC Opinion
8 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion