Autistic adults experience disproportionately high rates of trauma and trauma-related distress, but
their experiences are often misunderstood or overlooked in clinical and community settings. Many
describe intense sensory, cognitive and emotional responses to everyday personal stressors, including sensory overload, social threat or disrupted routines, that do not meet traditional diagnostic definitions. Autistic adults also show elevated rates of substance use, frequently using substances to cope with distress. However, the processes linking stressor reactivity and coping-motivated substance use remain poorly understood.
This project investigates how autistic sensory and attentional processes influence responses to
personal stressor cues, and how these responses might contribute to coping-motivated substance use. Using a three-stage design, a systematic review and meta-analysis will synthesise existing evidence on stressor exposure, sensory hyperarousal and coping-motivated substance use in autistic adults. Qualitative interviews and ecological momentary assessment will then explore how adults with high autistic traits experience personal stressors, attentional styles and substance use coping in everyday life. These findings will inform the development of personal stressor cues for an experimental study examining attentional and physiological responses to these cues using eye-tracking, physiological measures and subjective ratings.
Through an interdisciplinary approach integrating lived experience, qualitative insight and advanced quantitative methods, this project will offer the first account of personal stressor cue reactivity in autistic adults and its links to coping-motivated substance use. The findings will help shape more neuroaffirmative, trauma-informed practice, support the early identification of individuals at risk of stress-related substance use coping and contribute to healthier, more inclusive communities.