Isabelle Chastney
Thesis Title: Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and Social Behaviour in Autism and ADHD
Leading explanations for autistic social behaviours (including social avoidance and fewer friendships) argue these stem from “an extreme case of diminished social motivation”. However, the underlying evidence base is inconsistent and mixed, with much recent literature emphasizing the need for novel theoretical accounts of autistic social behaviours. Indeed, patterns observed in existing empirical literature suggest Rejection-Sensitive-Dysphoria (RSD) may be an overlooked factor that offers a more valuable account of autistic behaviours. However, whilst autistic populations possess both the risk factors and behavioural difficulties associated with RSD, only one published study has investigated the relation, finding highly significant relationships but in the general population. To date, no research has explored RSD in clinical autistic samples, nor explored how RSD may explain patterns of social behaviour in autism.
The research adopts a participatory, mixed-methods approach, collecting first-hand autistic testimony alongside questionnaires and novel experimental studies involving behavioural, cognitive and biological measures. We aim to understand the relation between RSD and autistic traits, how past experiences contribute to RSD in autism, and how RSD influences social behaviours and cognitive and emotional processing in autism. To gain insight into specificity of these effects, we will compare findings to neurotypical and ADHD comparison groups. This research transcends previous theories of autism, which cannot account for empirical inconsistencies in the literature investigating social behaviours in autism. The findings will not only contribute significantly to our theoretical understanding of autism, but also offer novel clinical pathways to target common co-morbidities and behavioural difficulties in autism.
Biography
I am an ESRC-funded Doctoral Student currently on the 1+3 programme. I graduated with a first class integrated-masters (Msci) degree in Psychology from the University of Nottingham in 2023. During this period, I was awarded an Undergraduate Research Bursary by the Experimental Psychological Society to undertake an 8-week research internship in the summer of 2021, and later in 2022-2023 worked as a casual researcher on a large international project investigating social interactions between autistic and non-autistic people. My research dissertation explored social cognition in autism and ADHD, and is currently being prepared for publication.
Psychology
University of Nottingham
2023 Cohort 1+3
https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelle-chastney/
Supervisory Team
Dr Danielle Ropar
Dr Elizabeth Sheppard