Effectiveness of the mobile Stress Autism Mate Junior application in reducing stress and improving quality of life in adolescents with autism: a pilot study

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

van Asselt, A., Hoeberichts, K., Demirel, S., Scheeren, A., & Roke, Y. (2025). Effectiveness of the mobile Stress Autism Mate Junior application in reducing stress and improving quality of life in adolescents with autism: a pilot study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1469257-1469257. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1469257

Publication date: 8 Jan 2025 Added to AutiHub: 29 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
5
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 5 (20.0%)

Abstract

Objective Studies indicate that stress levels of autistic adolescents may be particularly high. Therefore, support is needed to help them deal with their stressors. Stress Autism Mate (SAM) Junior, a mobile self-help tool, was designed in co-creation with adolescents with autism to help reduce daily stress levels. The app is based on the SAM app, which was previously shown to be effective in reducing stress in autistic adults. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the SAM Junior app in reducing perceived stress and maladaptive coping styles, and increasing adaptive coping styles and quality of life in adolescents with autism. Methods A total of 24 Dutch adolescents with autism participated in this Single Case Experimental Design study. Sixteen of them (9 girls and 7 boys; M age = 15.0 years, SD = 1.9) completed all research phases. Data were collected at four time points separated by four weeks: Control, pre-test, post-test and follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze the data. Results At post-test, use of the SAM Junior app had no significant effects on participants’ perceived stress (B = 0.31; 95% CI [-1.59, 2.22], p =.73), adaptive coping (B = -1.38; 95% CI [-5.69, 2.94], p =.51), maladaptive coping (B = -0.63; 95% CI [-4.56, 3.30], p =.74) and quality of life (B = -4.13; 95% CI [-12.19, 3.94], p =.29). These non-significant effects persisted at follow-up. Discussion Current preliminary results do not show effectiveness of the SAM Junior app to support adolescents with autism. Using the app as intended, without professional supervision, may have been too complex for this population. Further research is needed to determine the potential effects of the SAM Junior app with more certainty.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 08:13.

Cited references
69
With a DOI
57
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
12
3 / 69 (4.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
8 / 69 (11.6%)
References with detected author names
61 / 69 (88.4%)
Without detected author names
8
Without a structured title
3
Without a stable identifier
10
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
275
From DOI or external metadata
275
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
52 / 275 (18.9%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 223 / 275 (81.1%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
7 / 275 (2.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 7 / 52 (13.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 6 / 255 (2.4%).
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