With reference to research studies using narrative psychology, discuss how health psychology could be used to improve health among children with autism
参考叙事心理学的研究，讨论如何利用健康心理学改善自闭症儿童的健康
Introduction 介绍
Over the years, medical experts as well as researchers and scholars have identified different mental health challenges and disabilities that people, and particularly children, face in life. Among these is Autism spectrum disorder or simply autism. In reference to Pellicano, Dinsmore and Charman (2014), autism is a developmental disorder that affects the behaviour and communication ability of the affected person. Speaking from this perspective, among the key symptoms of autism include challenges in communication and interacting with people, engaging in repetitive behaviour such as repeating phrases or words, and getting angry because of small changes in the person’s routine among other aspects. Researchers and scholars observe that autism is often detected early in life among children during the first two years of their lives (Pellicano, Dinsmore & Charman, 2014). Whereas this is the case, Cuellar (2015) observes that autism among children from low income and minority backgrounds is usually detected later in life as compared to children from high income backgrounds. Despite the fact that researchers, scholars and psychological experts are yet to unravel the actual cause of autism, there are arguments among them that possessing certain genetic conditions increases the likelihood of developing autism. Furthermore, low birth weight, and being born when one’s parents are old increase the chances of one developing autism disorder (Karimi, Kamali, Mousavi & Karahmadi, 2018). Importantly, studies reveal that autism’s prevalence in society has increased considerably mainly due to early detection, greater availability of autism support services, and the rising awareness regarding this disorder in society. Speaking from this point of view, this paper explores how health psychology’s narrative psychology could be used to improve the health of children with autism.
多年来，医学专家、研究人员和学者已经确定了人们，特别是儿童在生活中面临的不同的心理健康挑战和残疾。其中包括自闭症谱系障碍或简单的自闭症。参考Pellicano、Dinsmore和Charman（2014），孤独症是一种影响患者行为和沟通能力的发育障碍。从这个角度讲，孤独症的主要症状包括在与人沟通和互动方面的挑战，参与重复的行为，如重复短语或单词，以及由于人的日常生活中的微小变化而生气等。研究人员和学者观察到，自闭症通常在儿童生命的前两年在早期就被发现（Pellicano，Dinsmore&Charman，2014）。尽管如此，Cuellar（2015）观察到，与高收入背景儿童相比，低收入和少数民族背景儿童的孤独症通常在晚年才被发现。尽管研究人员、学者和心理专家尚未解开自闭症的真正原因，但他们中仍有人认为，拥有某些遗传条件会增加患自闭症的可能性。此外，低出生体重和父母年老时出生会增加患孤独症的几率（Karimi、Kamali、Mousavi&Karahmadi，2018）。重要的是，研究表明，自闭症在社会中的流行率大幅上升，主要原因是早期发现、自闭症支持服务的增加以及社会对这种疾病的认识不断提高。从这一角度出发，本文探讨了健康心理学的叙事心理学如何被用于改善自闭症儿童的健康。
Mental health and wellbeing 心理健康和福利
Mental health is one of the most critical areas in people’s lives that play an instrumental role in influencing their wellbeing. Despite the fact that most people focus on the physical health, their failure to highlight the role of mental health in defining the wellbeing of individuals in society does not in any way imply that it can be ignored. In reference to Howard, Burton, Barrell and Levermore (2017), the foundations of healthy development in a person’s life are founded on mental health and as such, the people who experience mental health problems early in life are likely to suffer adverse and long-lasting effects. Importantly, the World Health Organisation (2014) reiterate that mental health problems in society are caused by an array of factors among them the physical, social and economic environment in which people live. Speaking from this point of view, findings indicate that certain groups of people as well as certain societies are likely to report a higher number of people with mental health problems as compared to others (World Health Organisation, 2014). Importantly, in a report that was published in 2015 on the mental health of children and the youth in Australia, it was established that approximately 13.9 percent of children and youth aged between 4 and 17 years in this country had some form of mental disorder 12 months prior to the research that led to the publishing of this report (Lawrence et al., 2015). Moreover, these studies indicated that males were more likely to suffer from mental health problems as compared to females, with 16.3 percent of males having suffered a mental disorder as compared to 11.5 percent of girls.
心理健康是人们生活中最关键的领域之一，在影响他们的福祉方面发挥着重要作用。尽管大多数人关注身体健康，但他们没有强调心理健康在定义社会中个人福祉方面的作用，这并不意味着可以忽视心理健康。参考Howard、Burton、Barrell和Levermore（2017），一个人生命中健康发展的基础是心理健康，因此，早年经历心理健康问题的人可能会遭受不利的长期影响。重要的是，世界卫生组织（2014年）重申，社会上的心理健康问题是由一系列因素造成的，其中包括人们生活的物质、社会和经济环境。从这一角度来看，研究结果表明，与其他人群相比，某些人群以及某些社会可能报告的精神健康问题人数更多（世界卫生组织，2014年）。重要的是，在2015年发表的一份关于澳大利亚儿童和青年心理健康的报告中，确定在该报告发表前12个月，该国约13.9%的4至17岁儿童和青年患有某种形式的精神障碍（Lawrence等人，2015年）。此外，这些研究表明，与女性相比，男性更容易患有精神健康问题，16.3%的男性患有精神障碍，而女孩为11.5%。