Engaging with and navigating limbo: Lived experiences of siblings of adults with autism spectrum disorders.

BACKGROUND: Supporting an adult with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be associated with family stress but also with personal growth and resilience. Research providing insight into how typically developing siblings make sense of their unique sibling relationships in adulthood remains limited. METHOD: Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, this study explored subjective experiences of eight siblings of adults with ASD and co-occurring intellectual disability. RESULTS: Analysis of interview transcripts revealed a complex lived experience explained by the overarching theme "engaging with and navigating limbo", which was characterized by commitment to the sibling relationship, power tensions in the family, uncertainty about the future and negotiating the tension between relational closeness and distance. CONCLUSION: Using family systems theory, overregulation and closed communication emerged as processes relevant to families living with ASD. Clinical opportunities to support family communication, change tolerance and belonging are discussed.

Child maltreatment and adult psychopathology in an Irish context.

One-hundred-ninety-nine adult mental health service users were interviewed with a protocol that included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Structured Clinical Interviews for Axis I and II DSM-IV disorders, the Global Assessment of Functioning scale, the SCORE family assessment measure, the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule, and the Readiness for Psychotherapy Index. Compared to a U.S. normative sample, Irish clinical cases had higher levels of maltreatment. Cases with comorbid axis I and II disorders reported more child maltreatment than those with axis I disorders only. There was no association between types of CM and types of psychopathology. Current family adjustment and service needs (but not global functioning and motivation for psychotherapy) were correlated with a CM history. It was concluded that child maltreatment may contribute to the development of adult psychopathology, and higher levels of trauma are associated with co-morbid personality disorder, greater service needs and poorer family adjustment. A history of child maltreatment should routinely be determined when assessing adult mental health service users, especially those with personality disorders and where appropriate evidence-based psychotherapy which addresses childhood trauma should be offered.