Un angle mort dans les soins de santé mentale ? Les psychothérapeutes manquent de formation et d'expertise pour le soutien des adultes sur le spectre de l'autisme

Titre original en anglais : A blind spot in mental healthcare? Psychotherapists lack education and expertise for the support of adults on the autism spectrum

Lipinski, S., Boegl, K., Blanke, E. S., Suenkel, U., & Dziobek, I. (2021). A blind spot in mental healthcare? Psychotherapists lack education and expertise for the support of adults on the autism spectrum. Autism, 26(6), 1509-1521. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613211057973

Date de publication: 26/11/2021 Ajout dans AutiHub: 06/07/2026 Type: Article Langue de l’article: Anglais

Cette publication est intégrée dans AutiHub via :

Auteurs

Auteur·ices des publications
5
Auteur·ices de la publication identifié·es comme autistes
1 / 5 (20,0 %)

Résumé

La plupart des adultes sur le spectre de l'autisme présentent des troubles de santé mentale concomitants, ce qui crée une forte demande de services de santé mentale, y compris de psychothérapie, chez les adultes autistes. Cependant, les adultes autistes ont des difficultés à accéder aux services de santé mentale. Les obstacles les plus fréquemment signalés à l'accès au traitement sont le manque de connaissances et d'expertise des thérapeutes concernant l'autisme, ainsi que leur réticence à traiter des personnes autistes. Cette étude a été menée par un groupe de recherche participative sur l'autisme et a examiné, chez 498 psychothérapeutes traitant des patients adultes, les connaissances sur l'autisme et la compétence autoévaluée pour diagnostiquer et traiter des patients autistes sans déficience intellectuelle, par comparaison avec des patients présentant d'autres diagnostics. Les psychothérapeutes ont évalué leur formation sur l'autisme dans le cadre de la formation initiale, ainsi que leur compétence en matière de diagnostic et de traitement des patients autistes, comme les plus faibles par rapport aux patients présentant tous les autres diagnostics étudiés dans l'enquête, y compris ceux ayant des taux de prévalence comparables. De nombreux thérapeutes avaient des idées fausses et des croyances dépassées au sujet de l'autisme. Peu avaient suivi une formation complémentaire sur l'autisme, mais la majorité souhaitait en recevoir une. Une meilleure connaissance de l'autisme était positivement associée à l'ouverture à l'acceptation de patients autistes. Les résultats mettent en évidence une lacune alarmante dans les connaissances nécessaires à des soins de santé mentale adéquats pour les personnes autistes. Résumé vulgarisé La plupart des adultes autistes rencontrent des problèmes de santé mentale. Il existe une forte demande de soutien psychothérapeutique qui réponde aux besoins spécifiques des personnes autistes. Cependant, les personnes autistes rencontrent des difficultés lorsqu'elles tentent d'accéder à des services diagnostiques et thérapeutiques. Cette étude a été menée par un groupe de recherche participative sur l'autisme : un groupe dans lequel des personnes autistes et des scientifiques collaborent. Le groupe a élaboré un questionnaire destiné aux psychothérapeutes en Allemagne afin d'évaluer leurs connaissances sur l'autisme. Les psychothérapeutes ont également évalué leur capacité à diagnostiquer et à traiter des patients autistes sans déficience intellectuelle, ainsi que des patients présentant d'autres diagnostics psychologiques. Parmi les 498 psychothérapeutes ayant répondu, nombreux sont ceux qui ont signalé peu de connaissances et des croyances dépassées au sujet de l'autisme, ainsi que peu de formation au traitement de patients autistes. Leur expertise concernant d'autres affections psychologiques était plus étendue. Cependant, de nombreux psychothérapeutes étaient intéressés par une formation professionnelle sur l'autisme. Ceux qui possédaient davantage de connaissances étaient également plus ouverts au traitement de patients autistes. En conclusion, le manque de connaissances et d'expertise des psychothérapeutes semble constituer un obstacle majeur pour les adultes autistes à l'obtention d'un soutien psychothérapeutique utile. Les résultats démontrent la nécessité d'améliorer la formation sur l'autisme pendant la formation des psychothérapeutes et dans la formation continue.

Most adults on the autism spectrum have co-occurring mental health conditions, creating a high demand for mental health services – including psychotherapy – in autistic adults. However, autistic adults have difficulties accessing mental health services. The most-reported barriers to accessing treatment are therapists’ lack of knowledge and expertise surrounding autism, as well as unwillingness to treat autistic individuals. This study was conducted by a participatory autism research group and examined 498 adult-patient psychotherapists on knowledge about autism and self-perceived competency to diagnose and treat autistic patients without intellectual disability compared to patients with other diagnoses. Psychotherapists rated their education about autism in formal training, and competency in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with autism, lowest compared to patients with all other diagnoses surveyed in the study, including those with comparable prevalence rates. Many therapists had misconceptions and outdated beliefs about autism. Few had completed additional training on autism, but the majority were interested in receiving it. Greater knowledge about autism was positively linked to openness to accept autistic patients. The results point to an alarming gap in knowledge necessary for adequate mental health care for individuals with autism. Lay abstract Most autistic adults experience mental health problems. There is a great demand for psychotherapeutic support that addresses the specific needs of autistic individuals. However, people with autism encounter difficulties trying to access diagnostic and therapeutic services. This study was conducted by a participatory autism research group: a group in which autistic individuals and scientists collaborate. The group developed a questionnaire for psychotherapists in Germany to assess their knowledge about autism. Psychotherapists also rated their ability to diagnose and treat autistic patients without intellectual disability, and patients with other psychological diagnoses. Many of the 498 psychotherapists that responded reported little knowledge and outdated beliefs about autism, as well as little training on treating patients with autism. Their expertise about other psychological conditions was more comprehensive. However, many psychotherapists were interested in professional training on autism. Those with more knowledge were also more open to treating autistic patients. In conclusion, psychotherapists’ lack of knowledge and expertise seem to be a major barrier for adults with autism to receiving helpful psychotherapeutic support. The results demonstrate the need for an advancement in autism education during psychotherapists’ training and in continuous education.

Bibliographie citée par cette référence

Les références citées sont importées depuis des sources externes de métadonnées lorsqu’elles sont disponibles. La liste peut être partielle.

Vue d’ensemble de l’inclusion dans la bibliographie

Ces indicateurs décrivent la bibliographie citée importée pour cette publication. Les métriques de références citées utilisent le total des références citées comme dénominateur. Les métriques d’auteurices cité·es indiquent si elles utilisent toutes les occurrences d’auteurices cité·es ou seulement les occurrences rattachées à des auteurices déjà intégré·es à la base de données AutiHub. Ils utilisent les rattachements mis en cache entre les auteurices cité·es et les auteurices intégré·es à la base de données AutiHub. Dernier calcul : 16/08/2026 11:30.

Références citées
54
Nombre total de références citées intégrées pour cette publication.
Références citées avec un·e auteur·ice identifié·e comme autiste
1 / 54 (1,9 %)
Occurrences d’auteur·ices cité·es identifié·es comme autistes
1 / 260 (0,4 %)
Parmi les occurrences rattachées à des auteurices intégré·es à la base de données AutiHub : 1 / 76 (1,3 %). Auteurices cité·es distinct·es identifié·es comme autistes : 1 / 237 (0,4 %).
Occurrences citées rattachées à la base AutiHub
76 / 260 (29,2 %)
Auteurices cité·es distinct·es rattaché·es : 59 / 237 (24,9 %)
Occurrences rattachées, non identifiées comme autistes
75 / 76 (98,7 %)
Parmi les seules occurrences rattachées. Sur l’ensemble des occurrences d’auteurices cité·es : 75 / 260 (28,8 %). Auteurices cité·es distinct·es rattaché·es, non identifié·es comme autistes : 58 / 59 (98,3 %).
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