Environmental influences on anxiety and depression in autistic YP - Sarah Hampton (10-Jul-2025)

Autistic people commonly experience anxiety and depression. These issues often arise by adolescence and can have detrimental effects on autistic people’s lives. However, support for anxiety and depression among autistic people is lacking, in part because we currently do not have a good understanding of how and why these difficulties develop. Historically, research into the causes of autistic people’s mental health difficulties has focused on autistic individuals’ characteristics rather than how autistic people and their environment fit together. Exploring environmental influences allows us to consider autistic people’s lives in context and may identify factors that can be changed so we can form targets for intervention. This talk outlines the findings of a participatory, qualitative interview study with autistic young people and their parents about their experience of anxiety and depression. The talk outlines ways in which experiences of often unaccommodating environments (e.g. academic, social and built environments) impact autistic young people’s wellbeing and what could be done to help. Sarah is a postdoctoral researcher at University College London. Her research aims to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of neurodivergent people. She has a range of research interests, including autistic people’s healthcare experiences and the experiences of autistic women and girls. She is autistic and an ADHDer and takes a neurodiversity-affirming approach to her research. She has an interest in participatory methods and aims to centre the priorities of those with lived experience in her research.