Predictors of outpatient psychotherapy utilization among autistic adults

Abstract

Background: The diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a pervasive neurodevelopmental difference and is mostly accompanied by a range of co-occurring mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression. These can significantly reduce the quality of life of those affected or even lead to suicidality if remaining untreated. For the management of co-occurring mental health conditions psychotherapeutic interventions is recommended. However, autistic individual do seek lesser outpatient psychotherapy than the general population. In addition, the accessibility of healthcare services for autistic people decreases as they reach adulthood. Within this context, the aim of the study is to examine the factors that explain variance in the utilization of outpatient psychotherapy among autistic adults. Methods: Data for this master thesis is based on the “BarrierfreeASD” project, which is carried out by the Department of Medical Psychology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). The cross-sectional data set includes N = 246 autistic adults, living in Germany. For this purpose, predictor variables have been identified within the framework of Anderson's "Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization". Predictors included are gender, employment status, income, educational background, age, relationship status, psychological co-occurring, physical co-occurring, support need in social interaction and support need in behavioral flexibility, were statistically analyzed using binary logistic regression. The aim of this analysis was to identify associations within a 6-month period of outpatient psychotherapy utilization.