Keren MacLennan

University of Bath | UB · Department of Psychology

Autistic children are at greater risk of developing anxiety than their nonautistic peers. Sensory reactivity differences have been implicated as one of the risk factors. Specifically, sensory hyperreactivity has previously been linked to anxiety, including separation anxiety and specific phobia; however, minimal research has explored the influence...

There is growing evidence for an association between sensory reactivity and mental health in autism. This study set out to explore the relationship between sensory reactivity and mental health in preschool-aged autistic children. In total 54 preschool-aged children with an Autism Spectrum Condition took part. Sensory and mental health symptoms were...

Sensory reactivity differences are a diagnostic criterion of autism. Sensory hyperreactivity has been linked to intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety in autistic children. However, research is yet to explore the mediating relationships or sensory hyporeactivity, seeking and anxiety subtypes in preschool-age autistic children. Therefore, we aimed t...

Background Mental health problems in university students are associated with many negative outcomes, yet there is a gap between need and timely access to help. Single-session interventions (SSIs) are designed to be scalable and accessible, delivering core evidence-based intervention components within a one-off encounter. Objective COMET (Common El...

Objective Using soothing imagery within psychotherapy may support people to undertake positive visualisation exercises. However, little is known about what processes happen when people view images they find to be soothing or non‐soothing. Design Exploratory qualitative methods were used. Method Responses from 644 participants who had written abou...

Background: Up to 94% of Autistic people have sensory responsivity differences, leading to both distressing and highly pleasurable sensory experiences. Despite the importance of live music in fostering social inclusion, many venues are not sensory-inclusive, creating barriers for Autistic people. Given the challenges Autistic people face in accessi...

While diagnostic pathways for identifying Autism in eating disorder (ED) populations have been developed, the field continues to lack validated psychometric tools to measure EDs for use in the Autistic population. Many commonly used measures for EDs potentially lack validity and reliability in the Autistic population limiting theoretical and practi...

Brief 3-item measure of sensory responsivity differences currently being piloted with Autistic adults for further development. This measure has been co-developed with input from Autistic adults.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented risks to the health of people living with dementia. Confinement to their homes and extra pressure on the health and social care system, left people with dementia and their carers with reduced access to care services. Accordingly, family carers assumed more caring responsibilities and face...

BACKGROUND Mental health problems in university students are associated with many negative outcomes, yet there is a gap between need and timely access to help. Single-session interventions (SSIs) are designed to be scalable and accessible, delivering core evidence-based intervention components within a one-off encounter. OBJECTIVE COMET (Common El...

Background Mentally-generated soothing imagery is a therapeutic technique to support mental wellbeing, but some individuals may require support using externally presented stimuli. Project Soothe was launched to collect soothing images using a citizen science approach. This online pilot study evaluated the first 575 soothing images collected, examin...

Background: High prevalence of mental health problems in adolescents indicates a need for more accessible evidence-based interventions. Connection with nature and soothing imagery based on compassion focused therapy (CFT) have both been shown to offer mood benefits, with a recent study showing that both nature related sounds and soothing images wer...

Background: Differences in responding to sensory stimuli, including sensory hyperreactivity (HYPER), hyporeactivity (HYPO), and sensory seeking (SEEK) have been observed in autistic individuals across sensory modalities, but few studies have examined the structure of these "supra-modal" traits in the autistic population. Methods: Leveraging a co...

Background: Mentally-generated soothing imagery is a therapeutic technique to support mental wellbeing, but some individuals may require support using externally presented stimuli. Project Soothe was launched to collect soothing images using a citizen science approach. This online pilot study evaluated the first 575 soothing images collected, exami...

Supplementary information for Williams et al. (2023) - Preprint [https://researchsquare.com/article/rs-2447849/latest]

Background Differences in responding to sensory stimuli, including sensory hyperreactivity (HYPER), hyporeactivity (HYPO), and sensory seeking (SEEK) have been observed in autistic individuals across sensory modalities, but few studies have examined the structure of these “supra-modal” traits in the autistic population. Methods Leveraging a combin...

Background: Sensory processing differences are commonly experienced by autistic individuals, and some sensory experiences can greatly impact the mental health and quality of life of individuals. Previous research suggests that adapting the sensory nature of environments may improve individual experiences and engagement with these spaces. However, k...

Abstract Background: Rates of anxiety are inordinately high in autistic adults. Sensory reactivity differences, such as hyperreactivity (e.g., strong reactions to sound), hyporeactivity (e.g., no, or slower reactions to pain), and seeking (e.g., fascination with spinning objects), are a diagnostic criterion of autism and have been linked with anxie...

Abstract Background: Rates of anxiety are inordinately high in autistic adults. Sensory reactivity differences, such as hyperreactivity (e.g., strong reactions to sound), hyporeactivity (e.g., no, or slower reactions to pain), and seeking (e.g., fascination with spinning objects), are a diagnostic criterion of autism and have been linked with anxie...

Autistic adults commonly experience sensory reactivity differences. Sensory hyperreactivity is frequently researched, whilst hyporeactivity and seeking, and experiences across domains, e.g., vision, are often neglected. Therefore, we aimed to understand more about the sensory experiences of autistic adults. We conducted a mixed-methods study, co-pr...

Depression and sensory reactivity are both common in autism. However, there is little understanding of the predictive relationship between these factors, or the nature of this relationship in autistic children who speak few to no words. This study set out to explore the longitudinal relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms in...

Background: Sensory processing differences are commonly experienced by autistic individuals, and some sensory experiences can greatly impact the mental health and quality of life of individuals. Previous research suggests that adapting the sensory nature of environments may improve individual experiences and engagement with these spaces. However, k...

Depression, much like other mental health conditions, is common in autism, with autistic individuals much more likely to be diagnosed than their non-autistic peers. Sensory reactivity differences are also commonly experienced by autistic individuals and have been associated with depressive symptoms. However, there is little understanding of the pre...

Sensory reactivity differences are commonly experienced by autistic adults. Sensory hyperreactivity is frequently researched, whilst sensory hyporeactivity and seeking, and experiences across domains, e.g., vision or touch, are often neglected. Therefore, our online qualitative study, co-produced with stakeholders, aimed to understand more about th...

There is growing evidence for an association between sensory reactivity and mental health in autism. This study set out to explore the relationship between sensory reactivity and mental health in pre-school aged autistic children. In total 54 preschool-aged children with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) took part. Sensory and mental health sympto...

Sensory reactivity differences are a diagnostic criterion in autism spectrum conditions. Sensory hyperreactivity has been linked to intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and anxiety in autistic children. However, research is yet to explore the mediating relationships or sensory hyporeactivity, seeking, and anxiety subtypes in preschool-age autistic child...

Autistic children are at greater risk of developing anxiety than their non-autistic peers, and sensory reactivity differences have been implicated as one of the risk factors. Sensory hyperreactivity has previously been linked to anxiety, including separation anxiety and specific phobia, however, minimal research has explored the influence of sensor...

Autistic children are at greater risk of developing anxiety than their non-autistic peers, and sensory reactivity differences have been implicated as one of the risk factors. Sensory hyperreactivity has previously been linked to anxiety, including separation anxiety and specific phobia, however, minimal research has explored the influence of sensor...