Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Researchers are investigating the possibility of the difficulty of tackling the unfamiliar or unanticipated has a unique part in bringing about anxiety among autistic adults. The research, spearheaded by scholars from the Psychology Department at Aberystwyth University in Wales, looked into if a characteristic known as ‘intolerance of uncertainty’ — a tendency to experience elevated stress levels in situations that are difficult to predict and the ways this may have an influence how anxiety is seen in people who have autism.
Autism is estimated to affect at least one in every hundred people, and the number of diagnoses has been climbing in the UK, with a growing proportion of individuals seeking evaluation during their adult years. Anxiety is a common companion to autism: although many people experience unease in social settings, those on the autism spectrum frequently describe unpredictability itself as a particularly difficult challenge to navigate.
The project will investigate how unpredictability affects both bodily responses and mental experiences of anxiety in autistic adults, and whether these effects vary between males and females.
Scientists are set to add together surveys and focus groups with controlled lab-based tasks designed to evaluate the specificity, response speed, heart rate, as well as skin conductance. These activities will have participants engage with social and non-social cues delivered in both forecastable and unforecastable patterns.
By highlighting uncertainty as a possible component of distress, the research has the purpose of deepening the knowledge of anxiety in autism and support practical enhancements in clinical, educational, and workplace environments.
This could include helping clinicians better prepare patients for sudden changes, and encouraging educators and employers to communicate more clearly and create more consistent, predictable routines.
The research is being led by Eleanor Gamble from the Department of Psychology at Aberystwyth University indicated that many autistic adults say that unexpected, last-minute changes—like being moved to a different room just before a lecture—can quickly heighten anxiety, even if the change appears minor. She further pointed out that it is often not the change itself that causes distress, but the uncertainty around it, such as not knowing where the new room is or how it will be arranged and if they can show that uncertainty is a primary trigger, services could be adapted to provide clearer information, more preparation time, and greater predictability. That could significantly ease everyday experiences.
Dr. Catherine O’Hanlon from the Department of Psychology indicated that anxiety is widespread among autistic individuals, yet most support approaches still focus on general or social anxiety. She pointed out that this research takes a different angle by exploring whether intolerance of uncertainty is a distinct and measurable contributor to anxiety in autism. Identifying such a specific trait could improve diagnostic frameworks and support the development of targeted strategies aimed at reducing uncertainty—ultimately enhancing both clinical outcomes and daily life for autistic adults.
The researchers will use surveys to assess participants’ levels of intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety, and autistic traits, alongside focus groups designed to capture how autistic adults navigate uncertainty in their everyday lives.
“Focus groups will enable us to examine, discuss and debate the lived experience of autistic people and their own anxiety and coping methods in everyday situations. Autistic people often have to be very creative and resilient to overcome barriers faced in everyday situations, at work, in leisure – in shops, bars, restaurants and the like and in services – healthcare settings and on public transport for example. Sharing these experiences in focus groups brings out key barriers, innovation and tactics used to be resilient, which will be crucial to working towards solutions that public places could put in place” explained Professor Charles Musslewhite, from the Department of Psychology.
