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Young people form the primary target demographic of new ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) and digital credit services. Despite consistent data showing young people as a cohort are particularly vulnerable to unsustainable levels of indebtedness, little is known about how young people define and make sense of the experience of being in debt through consumer credit services. This paper explores how indebtedness is experienced and understood in relation to wellbeing through a qualitative study using interviews alongside arts-based participatory methods of bodymapping and sandboxing with 24 young people in the Hunter region of NSW, Australia. These methods enabled particular attention to the embodied and affective elements related to the experience of indebtedness to understand debt’s significance for wellbeing for young people. The embodied and affective registers of indebtedness are integral for understanding the conditions informing how wellbeing is negotiated and felt in this context. This study considers the role of BNPL services in young people’s economic lives as part of broader processes of financialisation, and the significance of extended and ubiquitous forms of credit for young people’s wellbeing. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a common outcome following assessment of suspected dementia. However, it is unclear whether service-users perceive that being made aware is beneficial. The term itself is nebulous in terms of prognostic certainty and its utility for guiding interventions. This article summarises the systematic review conducted by Blatchford and Cook (2020) exploring research focused on service-users experiences of receiving the outcome of MCI and the impact of this upon them and their care partners. Service-user and care partner perspectives were shaped by the quality of information and support provided, and several factors shaped their experiences of being informed, including: personal perceptions and experiences, coping styles and living circumstance. The results suggested that clear information and quality support, tailored to service-user needs may improve the utility of the MCI outcome for service-users. The summary concludes by providing suggestions for enhancing service provision.

The current article outlines the nature of visuoperceptual deficits in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and its ‘atypical’ variants. Evidence to highlight that visual and visuoperceptual difficulties are common in dementias driven by Alzheimer’s-based pathology will be discussed. Following this, the ways in which early identification of visual and lower-level visuoperceptual symptoms of dementia may be facilitated within primary care optical health settings will be considered. It is hoped that this may inspire work to support opticians and optometrists to identify where timely signposting to dementia services may be beneficial for people with suspected dementia who are experiencing visuoperceptual deficits. This is particularly important given that visual and visuoperceptual deficits can be early signs of dementia and often have a significant impact on activities of daily living (e.g. dressing, increased falls risk, accidents whilst driving, difficulties navigating familiar environments; Tippett et al., 2019). An illustrative case example is provided, outlining how timely detection of suspected dementia could have enabled early provision of appropriate treatment and support to enhance quality of life (e.g. medication for symptom management, provision of cognitive strategies and functional aids; Armstrong & Kergoat, 2015).

This article explores how the social relationships of precarious workers contribute to employment and labour practices in the hospitality industry. In so doing, it contributes to theoretical discussions about the nature of post-Fordist labour, and to studies of the social relations of precarity as they are enacted in workers’ intimate lives. Empirically, the article describes a distinctive mode of interpersonal negotiation and sociality practised by workers that is connected to the requirement that workers be ‘fun’ at work to facilitate consumption and to support the labour of co-workers. This sociality also shapes access to employment. However, the way that this takes place sheds light on divisions within the service labour force, in which employment opportunities are distributed through a social ‘scene’ that excludes migrant and ethnic minority workers. Involvement in this scene places the relationship between the public and the private in workers’ social lives into a constant tension, but exclusion increases vulnerability to poor working conditions and exploitation. The article concludes by arguing that the relationship between the public and the private in the practice of affective labour is not dissolved so much as posed as a problem that workers must negotiate within the disciplinary requirements of labour in specific industries and the modes of embodied inequality shaping the service labour force.

We used mixed methods to learn about the nature and drivers of mental health changes among autistic adults in the United Kingdom during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In quantitative analyses, we examined the nature and predictors of change in depression, anxiety and stress, prospectively measured in 70 autistic adults at Wave 1 (just before the United Kingdom’s first lockdown) and Wave 2 (10–15 weeks into the United Kingdom’s first lockdown). Retrospective Wave 2 reports of mental health change were also analysed for these 70 participants. For the qualitative analysis, 133 participants (including the 70 from the quantitative analyses) provided reports on their experiences of the pandemic at Wave 2. In quantitative analyses, retrospective reports indicated that participants’ mental health worsened, but prospective data showed a different picture, with overall anxiety and stress scores reducing between Waves 1 and 2. Nevertheless, the mental health impact of the pandemic on autistic adults was variable, with a sizable minority reporting a significant decline in mental health. Qualitative analysis yielded four themes that contributed to mental health changes: (a) adjusting to changes to the social world, (b) living with uncertainty, (c) disruptions to self-regulation, and (d) barriers to fulfilling basic needs. Lay abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, high levels of depression, anxiety and stress have been reported in the general population. However, much less has been reported about the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of autistic people. What we did: In the present study, we investigated how the mental health of autistic adults in the United Kingdom changed during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 133 participants completed an online survey at two different time points. Of the 133 participants, 70 completed the survey at the first time point just before the onset of the national lockdown. This allowed us to look at changes in their mental health, from before the lockdown to 10 to 15 weeks during lockdown. All participants (133) told us about their experiences of the pandemic. What we found: While many autistic adults told us that their mental health worsened, people’s experience varied. For some autistic adults, aspects of mental health (e.g. anxiety, stress) actually improved. Participants also described social changes that had occurred, at home and in the outside world. They described feelings of uncertainty during the pandemic, and discussed how the pandemic had affected some of their previous coping strategies. Participants also told us about their difficulties in accessing healthcare services and food during the early stages of the pandemic. In our article, we discuss these findings and focus on what needs to change to ensure that autistic people are better supported as the pandemic continues.

Injection drug use-associated presents is a unique entity. The demographics of those affected and the clinical presentation are markedly different from those with endocarditis due to other causes. This group presents with a high proportion of right sided valve involvement, distinct pathophysiology, and a more varied array of infectious causes. The best management of these patients regarding medications and surgery remain hotly contested. The increased use of oral antibiotics and novel treatment techniques may expand safe and effective treatment for this group of patients.

Serratia marcescens is a gram-negative bacillus that is widespread in the environment and has been recognized as a rare cause of infective endocarditis (IE), particularly in persons who inject drugs (PWID). The literature consists of a 19 person case series in the 1970s followed by just a handful of case reports and small case series. At AHWFB (Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist), we have noticed an increasing number of severe infections, including IE, with Serratia marcescens in PWID. We aimed to gather data on the population that is getting this infection, the clinical characteristics of the infection, and its treatment at our facility.

While widening participation in higher education for regional, rural and remote (RRR) Australian communities has been a major policy focus in recent years, the pandemic and resulting lockdowns and closures of internal borders between Australian states and territories has impacted significantly upon RRR students who relocate to pursue tertiary education. In this article we draw on intersectional theory and in-depth interview data to understand the experiences, challenges faced by, and related choice-making processes of students during the height of the pandemic period. In the wake of the lockdown and implementation of a study from home university policy, the 27 students interviewed uncovered a new variation of the classic dilemma faced by young people living in rural areas: should I stay or should I go? Drawing on existing insights about student choice in higher education, we analyse mobility decision-making in relation to the participants’ classed, gendered and locational identities. We find that although the pandemic impacted upon all of the participants, their experiences differed significantly and were stratified across existing lines of inequalities related particularly to their access to financial resources and practical assistance. We ultimately contend that while the pandemic and resulting public health measures provide an extraordinary context, they nevertheless highlight some of the key challenges and vulnerabilities faced by RRR students who are unable to quickly marshal financial, emotional and practical support when crises occur, providing insights whose utility persists beyond the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Educational Review is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While Australia has experienced low COVID-19 case numbers relative to other countries, it has witnessed severe economic consequences in the wake of the pandemic. The hospitality industry, in which young adults are overrepresented, has been among the most affected industries. In this article, we present findings from an interview and a digital methods-based study of young hospitality workers in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Newcastle who lost shifts or employment due to the pandemic. We argue that the participants’ ability to cope with the loss of work was mediated by the degree of family support that they could access, with some experiencing the pandemic as an inconvenience, while others suffered extreme financial hardship. Findings from this study show that the most severe impacts of the pandemic play out along pre-existing lines of inequality and marginality, causing the most severe consequences for those who were already most vulnerable to them.

Housing affordability and declining rates of home ownership among members of the 25–34 age cohort are key concerns for Australian young adults. However, discussion has focused primarily on the challenges associated with urban housing markets, leaving young adults’ experiences of regional and rural housing markets comparatively under-addressed. This chapter focuses on this topic, presenting the findings of a discussion-based workshop conducted with 19 young adults living in a regional part of Tasmania, Australia. It illustrates the complex work that the participants performed in order to remain in a regional area with slim property and labour markets. Drawing on emerging research focusing on immobility and ‘rural stayers’ who remain in or return to rural and regional areas, this chapter contends that choosing to buy into a regional property market can be read as a key element of the complex ongoing mobility decision-making of young people living in regional and rural areas.

This article considers whether home renovation can be understood as a material future-making practice. By drawing together studies of memory and domestic spaces and material futures it considers how each field can be expanded by focusing on the specific ways in which domestic futures are anticipated and formed. Data from a 2018 interview and photovoice-based study of Australian young adults’ pathways into and experiences of homeownership are presented in order to demonstrate how the participants’ depictions, understandings and experiences of renovation were intertwined with anticipatory practices and imaginings. The findings are used to demonstrate that the participants’ generation of material futures was both purposive and relationally based, challenging existing depictions of material futures as incidentally and individually formed. The article ultimately advocates for research on private, domestic futures as a key, and yet underexplored means of contending with the ‘wicked problems’ that occupy sociological research on futures.

Current research on young people’s social media use tends to revolve around notable and spectacular forms of usage, and usage by specific identity-based groups on specific sites. The everyday socia...

The evidence base for both medical and psychological interventions for distress associated with recurrent visual hallucinations in dementia is limited. A case is presented within which a CBT model specifically designed to target recurrent complex visual hallucinations, proposed by Collerton and Dudley (2004) was implemented, informed by a Cognitive Rehabilitation (CR) based approach for people with dementia (Clare, 2008). This led to a successful outcome; both the distress and the hallucinatory experiences were alleviated.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a concept that is steeped in controversy not limited to prognostic uncertainty; it is unclear how patients interpret or attribute meaning to the label, and whether they perceive that being made aware is beneficial.A systematic review was conducted, searching ISI Web of Science, PubMed and PsycINFO in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Search terms were developed to include articles concerning perceptions regarding MCI and experiences and impact of being informed. Thematic synthesis was applied to the findings.Fourteen papers met criteria. Three themes emerged regarding the MCI label: 1) Individual differences relating to living circumstances, personal perceptions and experiences, and coping style affect how patients adjust to the MCI label; 2) Patients' reactions to the MCI label and their perceptions about how useful it was to receive are affected by the nebulous nature of the construct and information available regarding MCI; 3) Care partners are uncertain about what MCI means and how to address and cope with the patient's cognitive difficulties.Patient and care partner perspectives were affected by the quality of information and support provided, possibly influenced by clinicians' understanding of the concept. Personal perceptions and experiences, living circumstance and coping styles also shaped experiences of being informed.Clinicians should develop their understanding of MCI to deliver clear information to patients and consider the necessity of applying the label. Offering support tailored to patients' specific needs may improve perceptions about the label's utility, whilst aiding coping and adjustment.

House prices have risen sharply in most Australian capital cities in recent years. Due to Australia’s strong identity as a homeowning nation and the related tendency towards entering the housing ma...

Research addressing intergenerational financial assistance is currently uncovering a key space in which the familial transmission of advantage and disadvantage plays out. However, there is a gap between studies addressing the relationship between intergenerational assistance and outcomes in areas such as education and employment, and those addressing intergenerational assistance with entry into homeownership. The former have not addressed the impact of assistance on housing outcomes in any depth, while the latter have focused predominantly on single instances of support. As a result, little is known about the relationship between intergenerational support received over the so-called ‘transition’ to adulthood and support received specifically to aid entry into homeownership. This article presents data from ‘housing pathway’ interviews conducted with 33 young adult homeowners in Australia and in so doing begins to uncover the complex relationship between financial assistance with homeownership and previous instances of financial assistance. Drawing on the finding that homeownership appeared, in some cases, to be facilitated by seemingly unrelated forms of assistance, the paper argues for a revised conceptualisation of the relationship between independence and dependence in the transition to adulthood. Specifically, rather than understanding the achievement of adult milestones as symbolic of growing independence, it is argued that these milestones are, in some cases, achieved only through dependence on protracted forms of support. This claim challenges a dichotomous notion of dependence and independence by instead putting forward the concept of independence through dependence.

Smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance and family history all are well established general risk factors broadly associated with injury in the cardiovascular system. Similarly, echocardiography, electrocardiography, MRI, PET scans and circulating biomarkers like cardiac Troponin (cTn) provide indications that injury has occurred. Traditionally, cardiovascular injury has been attributed to conditions that exacerbate the potential for ischemia, either by producing excessive metabolic/work demands or by impairing the perfusion necessary to support the metabolic/work demands. This review summarizes additional factors that are underappreciated in contributing to the risk of injury, such as iatrogenic injury secondary to treatment for other conditions, infection, environmental exposures, and autoimmune processes.

Newspaper media plays a significant role in forming a public understanding of domestic violence. This article analyses 554 articles from 24 newspapers across Australian states and territories published between 2000 and 2020 that describe specific instances of domestic violence. It examines whether such violence is framed as a systemic issue or as a collection of individual events, as well as how such representations of perpetrators and victims displace both “blame” and “victimhood.” Although positive aspects of reporting can be observed, the tendency within newspaper articles to blur distinctions between perpetrators and victims distorts the true scale of domestic violence in Australia.

Research considering young adults’ experiences of place is characterised by two focal points: the relationship between place, education and employment; and immaterial aspects of place such as experiences of belonging and relationality. Previous research has worked across these focal points considering, for instance, how symbolic and immaterial factors and social ties can inform mobility choices and experiences. We extend this work by drawing on longitudinal qualitative data to show three ways that place attachment can be a part of the formation of contemporary occupation-based identities. Using the concept of the self as enterprise (Kelly 2013), we mark out this development as part of a broader generational shift in occupational identities. We ultimately find that some young adults can remain in or return to meaningful rural and regional places by developing an occupational identity or ‘personal brand’ informed by changing occupational demands and enabled by social ties linked to specific places.

This article examines how young Chinese adults living in urban areas experience cunzaigan (a Chinese word that translates to ‘sense of existence’) through sharing mundane life moments on the social media platform—WeChat. We draw on the theories of social acceleration and social presence to interpret this practice and, in so doing, find that for our participants, cunzaigan signifies a subjective experience, testifying that they are here, providing a counterpoint to their mobile and fast-paced urban lives. Drawing on their experience of temporal social presence on WeChat, we contend that technological developments, which have been identified as a key motor of social acceleration, can also be harnessed as a resource to serve ontological and social purposes in an accelerated social context. In so doing, we address the role that everyday engagements with social media play in shaping the temporal nature of young people’s lives.

Research considering how time is organised has shown that women tend to carry a disproportionate burden of coordinating the schedules of their households. However, little research has considered how these gendered inequalities may manifest in the context of the shift away from ‘standard’ work patterns and towards variable and non-standard hours. We address this question by using interview and digital data to consider how a selection of ‘ordinary’ Australian young adults in heterosexual partnerships manage and coordinate their time. We contend that even for middle-class young adults with relatively high employment security, increasingly complex working arrangements are shifting existing inequalities in gendered divisions of temporal labour in ways that heighten feelings of temporal insecurity. We conceptualise our findings as part of an intensification of the existing need to schedule and manage lives that is widely felt in the so-called ‘gig economy era’, even by those removed from gig work proper.

Although humanities and social science disciplines have witnessed an explosion of interest in the topic of hope in recent decades, uptake of this concept has been comparatively uneven in sociological research. Hope has garnered substantial attention in relation to topics such as health, poverty, youth and work within creative industries, while attracting sporadic interest elsewhere. However, despite this uneven engagement, studies addressing hope in each area have echoed many of the same ambiguities. We focus on two such ambiguities: the relationship between hope and futurity, and the relationship between hope and agency. Drawing on the observation that recent treatments of hope appear to either emphasise a hoped-for outcome situated in the future or focus on the role of hope in coping with the present we reframe this debate, contending that these tendencies suggest two distinct modes of hope: representational and non-representational. By reframing the relationship between hope and futurity thus we seek to, in turn, untangle the ambiguous relationship between hope and agency. We test the utility of our conceptualisations of hope by placing them into dialogue with longitudinal case studies compiled from biennial interviews and annual surveys conducted over a 10-year period. We ultimately put forward some means by which recent sociological treatments of hope can be unified, and in so doing contend that conceptualising hope not as an individual experience, but as part of broader political economies of hope can attune us to the ways in which inequalities are manifest through uneven distributions and experiences of hope.

This article explores young people’s consumption of credit and the role of credit and debt in the distinction between youth and adulthood. The article engages with recent shifts in the nature of credit that have turned credit into an object of consumption in itself, as well as broader arguments about the financialisation of daily life, in order to understand the temporalities and moral distinctions enacted in different forms of credit and debt among youth. While it is well recognised that financialised capitalism operates and creates value from differences including gender, racialisation and class, the formation of youth subjectivities through credit and debt technologies remains unexplored in the literature despite an emerging crisis of consumer credit among young people. With this in mind, this article draws on a qualitative study of youth, credit and debt, to show that young people experience debt within contradictory temporalities and calculative logics, including the long-term ‘investments’ required to become an adult, and the logic of consumption attached to consumer credit which positions credit as a failure of self-responsible adulthood because it places future creditworthiness in jeopardy. In this way, the article suggests a future research agenda on the way that biographical distinctions are enacted through credit and debt, and how notions of youth and adulthood contribute to the qualification and consumption of credit. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Camouflaging is a social phenomenon operating within everyday social interactions of autistic and non-autistic people. The current study explored autistic adults’ camouflaging in an everyday social context via interpersonal process recall methodology (Kegan, 1969). A total of 17 autistic adults (8 females, 6 males and 3 agender/gender-neutral individuals) participated in a 10-min controlled social task designed to replicate a common day-to-day social situation. Participants then watched a video of their interaction with a researcher, actively identifying instances of camouflaging and discussing their experiences of camouflaging. Using thematic analysis, four themes were generated: (1) a strong desire for, yet uncertainty in, securing social acceptance and connection; (2) camouflaging, developed over time, as a means to achieve social acceptance and connection; (3) experiencing intrapersonal and interpersonal camouflaging consequences during social interactions; and (4) authentic socialising as an alternative to camouflaging. These findings are discussed with reference to the existing literature on stigma management outside the field of autism. Lay abstract Many autistic people report that, despite personal costs, they use strategies to hide their autistic characteristics or appear non-autistic at work, school or university, when speaking with health professionals, or while socialising with certain friends and family members. These strategies are often referred to as camouflaging. This study explores camouflaging during everyday social interactions. A total of 17 autistic adults were filmed taking part in a common everyday social situation – a conversation with a stranger. They then watched the video of this conversation with a researcher and answered questions about camouflaging. These autistic people told us that they (1) had a strong desire to socialise with and be valued by other people but, because of negative past experiences, they often felt unsure about their ability to do so; (2) used camouflaging to help them to socialise and be valued by others; (3) experienced negative consequences when camouflaging (e.g. fatigue, anxiety and difficulties in friendships); and (4) sometimes socialised in more autistic ways instead of camouflaging. This study shows us how autistic people often change their behaviour because of the way they are treated by nonautistic people and that autistic people may benefit from programmes that help them to socialise in more authentically autistic ways, but only if their autistic social behaviour is met with understanding and acceptance from non-autistic people.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with mental health declines in the general population. Those with pre-existing vulnerabilities are known to be at particular risk. This may include autistic people, who have high levels of mental and physical health problems. Yet little is currently known about the impact of the pandemic on autistic people. Using an online survey, this mixed-methods study gathered data from 133 autistic adults in the United Kingdom (UK), about their experiences of the pandemic in relation to their mental health. Results indicated that the mental health impact of the pandemic on autistic adults was variable. A sizeable minority reported improvements in their mental health associated with COVID-19 restrictions. By contrast, most participants described an overall negative impact their levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Analysis of qualitative data using thematic analysis highlighted four themes that contributed to mental health changes in autistic adults: (i) adjusting to changes to the social world, (ii) living with uncertainty, (iii) disruptions to self-regulation, and (iv) barriers to fulfilling basic needs. Based on these findings, we discuss recommendations about how to support autistic people; both as the pandemic persists and once normality ensues.

Background Autistic people may modify their innate autistic social behaviours in order to adapt to, cope within, and/or influence the predominately neurotypical social landscape. We term such modified or changed behaviour “camouflaging behaviour.” Conceptualisations and definitions of camouflaging behaviours are in their infancy. Existing qualitative research examining camouflaging behaviours relies solely on retrospective accounts of camouflaging experiences. Methods Using Interpersonal Process Recall methodology (Kegan, 1969), 17 autistic adults (8 women, 6 men, and 3 agender/gender neutral) participated in a brief social task designed to replicate a common day-to-day social situation. Participants then watched a video of their interaction with a researcher, actively identifying and describing camouflaging behaviours. Interview transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results Detailed descriptions of 37 camouflaging behaviours were generated. These behaviours were grouped into four categories: masking (hide particular behaviours and/or aspects of one’s identity); innocuous engagement (facilitate passive, conservative, and superficial engagement in social interactions); neurotypical communication (involve communicating in line with non-autistic norms and preferences); and active self-presentation (facilitate active, open, and reciprocal participation in social interactions). Limitations Given the IPR methodology utilised in the study, the results may not generalise to all social environments or autistic individuals. Conclusions This study extends the current understanding of camouflaging by generating novel, specific, and detailed information about camouflaging behaviours. These camouflaging behaviours are discussed with reference to literature concerning interpersonal research and theory within and outside the field of autism.

Young adults’ use of individualized explanations for conditions that are structural in origin is well documented. However, recent scholarship has contended that young adults are often more aware of the macro-scale forces that shape their life chances than has previously been acknowledged. We build upon this work by drawing on findings from focus groups conducted with 19 Australian young adults aged 27–28 in which they were called upon to discuss issues and experiences relevant to both their own lives and those of their age cohort more broadly. We find that although the participants co-constructed explanatory narratives that positioned their cohort within a specific socio-historical context, they nevertheless drew chiefly upon individualized explanations and coping strategies to understand these structural changes when the conversation moved to micro-level experiences. We contend that this disjuncture is attributable not to a lack of knowledge or reflexivity but to a perceived lack of social recognition.

Recent years have witnessed an explosion of interest in hope in the disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Although expressions of hope on varying scales have been considered, this article focuses on recent scholarship addressing micro, often individual experiences of hoping. Such experiences of hope dovetail with a recent strand in utopian studies focusing on material and practice-based considerations and drawing utopian energies into everyday life. Working between these points of homology, this article considers the relationship between small-scale expressions of hope and utopian thinking. Literature addressing diverse subject matter is compared on the basis of its conceptualizations of hope. The outcome is twofold. First, common understandings of hope are identified in research addressing diverse topics. Second, Darren Webb's typology of modes of hope and their relationship to utopian thinking is expanded upon, and ultimately, a dichotomous understanding of modes of hope as either utopian or anti-/non-utopian is challenged.

Numerous studies have found that although young adults are arguably less constrained by gendered norms and expectations than previous generations, they have nevertheless continued to imagine their ...

Studies of rural areas have necessarily been occupied by discussions of migration, the experience of which is often concentrated among young adults in the years immediately following the end of secondary education. This dynamic has been attributed to a mobility imperative that equates leaving rural areas for the opportunities offered by urban centres with success, and staying in rural areas with failure. This article interrogates the distinction between those who leave rural areas and those who stay, drawing on life-course research that contextualises the post-secondary mobility imperative within individuals’ wider biographies in order to challenge claims that mobility is associated with the development of personal resources that lie outside the reach of those who are not mobile. The article presents data taken from a 20-year longitudinal panel study of individuals’ post-school pathways, drawing specifically on interviews conducted with participants who grew up in rural areas. By focusing on the significance of relational considerations, the authors contend that the mobility decision-making process results in the development of reflexivity about one’s mobility irrespective of its outcome.

Some autistic people employ strategies and behaviours to cope with the everyday social world, thereby ‘camouflaging’ their autistic differences and difficulties. This review aimed to systematically appraise and synthesise the current evidence base pertaining to autistic camouflaging. Following a systematic search of eight databases, 29 studies quantifying camouflaging in children and adults with autism diagnoses or high levels of autistic traits were reviewed. The multiple methods used to measure camouflaging broadly fell under two different approaches: internal-external discrepancy or self-report. These approaches appear to relate to two distinct but potentially connected elements of camouflaging: observable behavioural presentations and self-perceived camouflaging efforts. While significant variation was noted across individual study findings, much the existing literature supported three preliminary findings about the nature of autistic camouflaging: (1) adults with more self-reported autistic traits report greater engagement in camouflaging; (2) sex and gender differences exist in camouflaging; and (3) higher self-reported camouflaging is associated with worse mental health outcomes. However, the research base was limited regarding participant characterisation and representativeness, which suggests that conclusions cannot be applied to the autistic community as a whole. We propose priorities for future research in refining the current understanding of camouflaging and improving measurement methods.

This chapter focuses on the nature and design of the mixed method longitudinal data that informs this book. Longitudinal panel studies are especially effective tools for analysing the dynamic lives of young people and tracing the intersections of individual biographies with societal processes across time. In this chapter we focus on the ways in which the longitudinal mixed methods design of the Life Patterns research program has provided insight into the lives of two generations of Australian young adults, focusing specifically on how it has made both change and continuity visible, and in so doing shedding light on old and new inequalities, and problematising the very concept of transitions. The research program has several distinctive features. It is a panel longitudinal study, which means that it tracks the same people over time; it tracks two cohorts of Australian young people, the first of whom left secondary school in 1991 and the second in 2006; it uses qualitative and quantitative research tools which inform each other; it generates data on young people’s lives and records their subjective understandings; and it contains a participatory element. We consider three important aspects that have emerged from the analysis of the data to highlight both the design features of the research program, and the affordances of this design. Firstly, we consider entrenched patterns of gender inequality in the field of work that are inconsistent with the equality of participation evident in the sphere of education. Secondly, we examine the impact of precarious employment on the lives of cohort 2, including their emerging consciousness that insecure work is the new norm. Thirdly, we discuss spatial and residential mobility trends in both Life Patterns cohorts to illuminate inter-generational differences in housing and mobility opportunities. Using the insights from this analysis, we demonstrate how this longitudinal design has provided a platform for researchers interested in examining entrenched assumptions about inequality and youth transitions in a period of rapid social change.