ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Digital Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1637008
A qualitative study of the Stress Autism Mate (SAM) app among Autistic Adults: user experiences and effects on stress awareness and coping skills
Provisionally accepted
- 1GGZ Centraal, Amersfoort, Netherlands
- 2Maastricht Universitair Medisch Centrum+ Psychiatrie, Maastricht, Netherlands
- 3Expertise Centre Specialised in Autism Spectrum Disorder GGz Centraal, Almere, Netherlands
- 4The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Leiden, Netherlands
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Autistic adults often face unique challenges in stress management. Conventional tools may not cater to their distinct needs. The Stress Autism Mate (SAM) app was developed to support stress recognition and promote active coping strategies through structured self-monitoring and personalised feedback. This study explored how autistic outpatient adolescents and adults experience the use of SAM in relation to stress awareness, coping behaviours, and engagement with digital tools. A qualitative phenomenological design was used, involving in-depth interviews with ten autistic participants (N = 10) who used SAM for at least four weeks. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to identify key patterns in user experiences. Three key processes were identified: (1) SAM facilitated increased awareness of previously unrecognised stress by externalising internal states, (2) participants shifted from avoidant to active coping strategies, supported by structured reflection and coping suggestions, and (3) the app’s emotionally neutral, predictable design created a safe and engaging space for self-regulation. However, tensions between structure and flexibility highlighted the need for greater personalisation to sustain engagement over time. In conclusion, SAM supports autistic individuals in transforming vague stress experiences into actionable insights, fostering emotional literacy and coping capacity. These findings extend prior quantitative evidence on SAM’s efficacy and provide actionable design recommendations for mHealth interventions aimed at neurodivergent populations.
Keywords: Autism spectrum Disorder1, Stress Management2, Mobile Health (mHealth)3, Autistic Adults4, coping strategies5, qualitative research6, self-regulation7, Digital Mental Health Intervention8
Received: 28 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hoeberichts, Roke, Damen, Niks and Van Harten. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kirsten Hoeberichts, GGZ Centraal, Amersfoort, Netherlands
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