Examining the Role of Social Connection in Suicide Risk for Older Autistic Adults: A Mixed Methods Study

检查社会联系在老年自闭症成人自杀风险中的作用：一项混合方法研究

• 批准号: 10727637
• 负责人: Dara V Chan
• 金额: $ 42.39万
• 依托单位: UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10727637
• 关键词: 3-Dimensional; Address; Adult; Age; Aging; Area; COVID-19 pandemic effects; Cessation of life; Communities; Data; Death Rate; Development; Diagnosis; Dimensions; Educational workshop; Elderly; Feeling; Feeling suicidal; Female; General Population; Geriatrics; Goals; Intervention; Interview; Journals; Knowledge; Link; Loneliness; Longevity; Maps; Measures; Mental Health; Mental disorders; Methods; National Institute of Mental Health; Patient Self-Report; Persons; Population; Predictive Factor; Prevention; Process; Reporting; Research; Research Priority; Risk; Risk Factors; Role; Sampling; Sex Ratio; Social Perception; Social Sciences; Social isolation; Social support; Source; Suicide; Suicide prevention; Travel; Vulnerable Populations; Woman; adult with autism spectrum disorder; age group; aged; autism spectrum disorder; autistic; diaries; experience; high reward; high risk; human old age (65+); improved; individuals with autism spectrum disorder; innovation; male; men; neglect; novel; premature; public health relevance; recruit; response; rural setting; sex; sex assigned at birth; social; social relationships; sociodemographic factors; suicidal behavior; suicidal morbidity; suicidal risk; suicide rate

PROJECT SUMMARY Suicide is one of the leading causes of premature death for autistic adults. Autistic adults are more likely to consider, attempt, and die by suicide than non-autistic adults. Understanding suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) in autism is a top research priority for autistic individuals, funders, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), and autism scientific journals. Despite the increased risk, little is known about factors that predict STB in autistic people. In the general population, older adults have the highest rates of suicide relative to all other age groups. Social disconnection is a well-established risk factor for STB in older adults. To date, no study has extended this association to older autistic adults. Older autistic adults are a growing population and their needs have been highlighted as an urgent research priority. The greater social isolation observed in older non-autistic adults is likely mirrored and potentially exacerbated in autism: autistic adults, across the lifespan, report feeling socially isolated and lonely. Given increased rates of STB and death by suicide in autism and the increased rates of suicide observed with older age in the general population, older autistic adults may be doubly vulnerable to the associations between social isolation and STB. In response to RFA-MH-22-136, we will employ a novel mixed-methods approach to characterize the relationship between STB and social disconnection, across multiple dimensions (structural, functional, qualitative), in older autistic adults (aged 55 and older). We will recruit 40 older autistic adults and 25 non-autistic older adults, oversampling for females given reports of heightened STB in autistic females and the differential relationship between STB and social disconnection in older non-autistic males and females. This R21 has three aims: (1) Examine how multiple dimensions (structural, functional, qualitative) of social disconnection predict STB in older autistic and non-autistic adults; (2) Determine how assigned sex at birth impacts the relationship between social disconnection and STB in older autistic and non-autistic adults; and (3) Explore the relative importance of different types of activities and social and community connections and their relation to STB using in-depth qualitative data. This R21 directly aligns with the goals of RFA-MH-22-126 and the focus areas of the NIMH Geriatrics and Aging Processes Research Branch and NIMH Strategic Goals 2 and 3. Further, this R21 combines two priority areas for autism research: understanding STB and aging in autism. Data from this project will characterize how social disconnections across multiple dimensions serve as potential risk factors for STB in older adults and will provide actionable areas for which we can begin to develop effective and scalable interventions for this vulnerable population.

项目摘要 自杀是自闭症成年人过早死亡的主要原因之一。自闭症成年人更有可能 比非自杀的成年人考虑，尝试和死亡。了解自杀的思想和行为 （STB）在自闭症中是自闭症患者，资助者，机构间自闭症协调的重点 委员会（IACC）和自闭症科学期刊。尽管风险增加了，但对因素几乎不知道 预测自闭症患者的STB。在一般人口中，老年人相对于自杀率最高 所有其他年龄段。社会脱节是老年人STB的公认风险因素。迄今为止，没有 研究将这种关联扩展到年长的自闭症成年人。 年龄较大的自闭症成年人的人口不断增长，他们的需求已被强调为紧急研究 优先事项。在年长的非自动成年人中观察到的更大的社会隔离可能是反映的，并且可能是可能的 在自闭症中加剧：自闭症成年人，整个生命周期，都报告说社交孤立和孤独。给出 自闭症自杀率提高了STB和死亡的率，以及年龄较大的自杀率增加 一般人口的年龄，年龄较大的自闭症成年人可能会双重地受到社会之间关联的影响 隔离和STB。 为了响应RFA-MH-22-136，我们将采用一种新型的混合方法来表征 STB与社会断开之间的关系，跨多个维度（结构，功能， 定性），在年龄较大的自闭症成年人中（55岁及以上）。我们将招募40名年长的自闭症成年人和25个非自动人士 老年人，鉴于自闭症女性和差异的STB的报道，女性的过采样 老年非自主男性和女性的STB与社会脱节之间的关系。这个R21有三个 目的：（1）检查社会脱节的多个维度（结构，功能，定性）如何预测 老年自闭症和非自动人士成年人的STB； （2）确定分配的性别在出生时如何影响关系 在年龄较大的自闭症和非自闭症成年人的社会断开和STB之间； （3）探索亲戚 不同类型的活动以及社会和社区联系的重要性及其与STB的关系 深入的定性数据。 该R21直接与RFA-MH-22-126的目标以及NIMH老年医学的重点领域保持一致 衰老过程研究分支和NIMH战略目标2和3。此外，此R21结合了两个优先级 自闭症研究领域：了解自闭症的STB和衰老。该项目的数据将表征如何 多个维度之间的社会断开连接是老年人STB的潜在危险因素，将会 提供可行的领域，我们可以开始为此开发有效且可扩展的干预措施 脆弱的人口。