Through the Eyes of a Young Carer: A Photo Elicitation Study of Protective Resilience.

Caregiving is recognised as a source of stress with potential for negative health impacts as well as positive outcomes and development of resilience. For young carers, children, and adolescents providing care for close family members, adaptation through resilience is crucial, yet work using a resilience approach is limited. This study explored protective factors and pathways to resilience in a sample of young carers, through application of the socioecological model in caring relationships. An in-depth qualitative approach was used, with in-person interviews facilitated by auto-driven photo elicitation. Deductive thematic analysis was applied, framed by three levels (individual, community, and society) of the socioecological model of resilience. Twelve participants (nine girls and three boys) aged 5-18 years, each providing care to a family member, were recruited using opportunity and volunteer sampling via carers' centres in the southwest of England. Ten key themes were identified, four at the individual level: pre-empting challenges and planning, cognitive strategies, emotional strategies, and seeking solitude; three at the community level: family support, friendships, and pets and inanimate objects; and three at the society level: professional support, access to caregiver activities and community, and being outdoors. The location of themes at each level indicated relevance of the socioecological model to identification of protective factors in a young carer population. These findings have important applications for guidance to charities and organisations supporting young carers. Identification of factors that promote resilience offers support for the development of well-informed interventions, which harness these protective factors to develop resilience and improve health for young carers.

Coping and adjustment in caregivers: A systematic review.

This systematic review assessed coping and adjustment in caregivers of all ages to provide a synthesis of existing literature in the context of methodological approaches and underlying theory. Four databases were searched. Reference lists, citations and experts were consulted. In total, 27 studies (13 quantitative and 14 qualitative) were included. Coping factors associated with adjustment (problem- versus emotion-focussed coping and cognitive strategies) and psychosocial factors associated with physiological adjustment (trait anxiety, coping style and social support) were identified. Results raised methodological issues. Future research requires physiological adjustment measures and longitudinal assessment of the long-term impact of childhood caregiving. Findings inform future caregiver research and interventions.

Brief Report: Autism in the Courtroom: Experiences of Legal Professionals and the Autism Community.

Online surveys were used to sample the views of judges, barristers and solicitors (n = 33) about their engagement with autistic individuals in criminal courts in England and Wales. Despite an understanding of some of the difficulties experienced by individuals with autism, and the adjustments suitable for supporting them, legal professionals reported constraints arising from a lack of understanding by others within the criminal justice system. These results are considered alongside the views and perspectives of autistic adults (n = 9) and parents of children on the autism spectrum (n = 19), who had encountered the criminal courts as witnesses or defendants and were largely dissatisfied with their experiences. Training, understanding and the provision of appropriate adjustments were identified as key issues by all respondent groups.

Experiences of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Policing in England and Wales: Surveying Police and the Autism Community.

An online survey gathered the experiences and views of 394 police officers (from England and Wales) regarding autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Just 42 % of officers were satisfied with how they had worked with individuals with ASD and reasons for this varied. Although officers acknowledged the need for adjustments, organisational/time constraints were cited as barriers. Whilst 37 % of officers had received training on ASD, a need for training tailored to policing roles (e.g., frontline officers, detectives) was identified. Police responses are discussed with respect to the experiences of the ASD community (31 adults with ASD, 49 parents), who were largely dissatisfied with their experience of the police and echoed the need for police training on ASD.