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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1469257

Effectiveness of the Mobile Stress Autism Mate (SAM) Junior Application in Reducing Stress and Improving Quality of Life in Adolescents with Autism: A Pilot Study

Provisionally accepted
Alvin van Asselt Alvin van Asselt 1*Kirsten Hoeberichts Kirsten Hoeberichts 1,2Sevda Demirel Sevda Demirel 1,2Anke Scheeren Anke Scheeren 3,4Yvette Roke Yvette Roke 1
  • 1 Expertise Centre Specialised in Autism Spectrum Disorder, GGz Centraal, Almere, Netherlands
  • 2 Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
  • 3 Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Netherlands
  • 4 Amsterdam Public Health, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Studies indicate that stress levels of autistic adolescents may be particularly high. Therefore, support is needed to help them deal with their stressors. Stress Autism Mate (SAM) Junior, a mobile self-help tool, was designed in co-creation with adolescents with autism to help reduce daily stress levels. The app is based on the SAM app, which was previously shown to be effective in reducing stress in autistic adults. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the SAM Junior app in reducing perceived stress and maladaptive coping styles, and increasing adaptive coping styles and quality of life in adolescents with autism. Methods: A total of 24 Dutch adolescents with autism participated in this Single Case Experimental Design study. Sixteen of them (9 girls and 7 boys; Mage = 15.0 years, SD = 1.9) completed all research phases. Data were collected at four time points separated by four weeks: Control, pre-test, post-test and follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze the data. Results: At post-test, use of the SAM Junior app had no significant effects on participants’ perceived stress (B = 0.31; 95% CI [-1.59, 2.22], p = .73), adaptive coping (B = -1.38; 95% CI [-5.69, 2.94], p = .51), maladaptive coping (B = -0.63; 95% CI [-4.56, 3.30], p = .74) and quality of life (B = -4.13; 95% CI [-12.19, 3.94], p = .29). These non-significant effects persisted at follow-up. Discussion: Current preliminary results do not show effectiveness of the SAM Junior app to support adolescents with autism. Using the app as intended, without professional supervision, may have been too complex for this population. Further research is needed to determine the potential effects of the SAM Junior app with more certainty.

    Keywords: autism, adolescents, mHealth, stress, coping strategies, Quality of Life

    Received: 23 Jul 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Asselt, Hoeberichts, Demirel, Scheeren and Roke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alvin van Asselt, Expertise Centre Specialised in Autism Spectrum Disorder, GGz Centraal, Almere, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.