Sorry, this project has finished.

Please contact 2306280b@student.gla.ac.uk with any questions about this study.

Debrief

This quantitative study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between a sense of belonging, autistic traits, and anxiety levels within the student population. The study followed a correlational design, and statistical tests will be conducted in R in order to determine the relationships present between participants scores on the three questionnaires. It was hypothesised that group identification and autistic traits will play a role in predicting anxiety levels in the student population. Previous research has investigated the effects of group identification on the health and well-being of individuals, with multiple studies identifying a relationship between group identification and mental health (e.g. Miller, Wakefield and Sani, 2015) including levels of anxiety. Additionally, a relationship seems to be present between autistic traits and negative mental health, with higher levels of autistic traits found to be predictive of anxiety in the non-autistic general population (Lamport & Zlomke, 2014). However, to my knowledge, no study to date had explicitly investigated the relationship between these three variables.

The first questionnaire was the Group Identification Scale (GIS; Sani et al., 2014). This measure assessed your sense of belonging to four different in-groups, as well as how much you feel as though you have in common with other in-group members.

The second part of the study measured levels of autistic traits using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ-10; Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), and you had to indicate the extent to which you agreed with presented statements. However, you must remember that scoring highly on this questionnaire does not qualify as a diagnosis of autism. Previous studies have found data implying that traits which reach a clinical level in autistic individuals also exist to a lesser degree in non-autistic members of the general public (e.g. Baron-Cohen et al., 2001).

Finally, you answered the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006), a brief questionnaire which measured symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder. You were asked to state how often within the last 2 weeks have you been bothered by any of the listed problems. Again, a high score in this questionnaire does not mean that you have Generalised Anxiety Disorder and does not qualify as a diagnosis.

Once again, if you have any further questions feel free to contact the researcher at 2306280b@student.gla.ac.uk. You are also free to request a summary of the final results of this study upon completion.

Thank you for your time and participation.

If participation in this study led to any discomfort, or if you simply would like to know more about the conditions investigated, then please see:

Mental health and general wellbeing support:

• https://www.samaritans.org

Further info and support for Anxiety:

• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/understanding-panic/
• https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/about-anxiety/

Further info and support for Autism:

• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/
• https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support

References
Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Skinner, R., Martin, J., & Clubley, E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 31(1), 5-17.
Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B., & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Archives of internal medicine, 166(10), 1092-1097.
Sani, F., Madhok, V., Norbury, M., Dugard, P., & Wakefield, J. R. H. (2014). Greater number of group identifications is associated with healthier behaviour: Evidence from a Scottish community sample. British Journal of Health Psychology, DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12119.
Miller, K., Wakefield, J. R., & Sani, F. (2015). Identification with social groups is associated with mental health in adolescents: Evidence from a Scottish community sample. Psychiatry Research, 228(3), 340-346.
Lamport, D., & Zlomke, K. R. (2014). The broader autism phenotype, social interaction anxiety, and loneliness: implications for social functioning. Current Psychology, 33(3), 246-255.