Abstract
Being victimized by one's peers is a major problem in adolescence, and research has suggested that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may experience higher rates of bullying than their typically-developing (TD) peers. However, it is currently unclear whether adolescents with ASD are victimized more by their peers simply because they are ‘different’. This study was designed to examine percentage rates across different types of bullying behaviour in adolescents with an ASD (n = 24), in comparison to a group of special-needs adolescents without an ASD (n = 22), and a group of typically developing peers (n = 24), to determine whether simply being ‘different’ leads to higher rates of victimization. We also examined the agreement between parental and self-reports of bullying behaviour experienced by these groups. Overall, more adolescents with ASD reported victimization than adolescents in the other two groups. In addition, those with ASD reported more social bullying in comparison to the other two groups and more physical bullying than the TD group. No difference was found between parental and self-reports for the bullying experienced by the adolescents with ASD or special needs; however, TD adolescents reported higher levels of victimization than their parents reported for them. Contributing factors for the victimization experienced by adolescents with an ASD are discussed.
5. Results
5.1. Group comparisons for being victimized and bullying others
Chi square tests revealed that significantly more adolescent boys in the ASD group reported being victimized in some way (within the last couple of months) than boys in the TD group, χ2 (1) = 4.15, p < .05; however, no differences were found between the ASD group and the LD/ADHD group, χ2 (1) = 2.09, p > .05, or between the LD/ADHD group and TD group, χ2 (1) = 0.32, p > .05. Table 1 displays the percentage rates, across types of bullying behaviour, for adolescents reporting they had been bullied or bullied others at least once in the past couple of months.
Table 1.
Percentage of involvement in bullying behaviour across groups by item.
Forms Items ASD (N = 24) LD/ADHD (N = 22) Controls (N = 24)
Bullied Bullied others Bullied Bullied others Bullied Bullied others
Physical Hit, kicked, pushed, showed around, or locked indoors 29.2 14.3 9.1 4.5 16.7 4.2
Verbal Called mean names, made fun of, or teased in a hurtful way 41.7 16.7 40.9 31.8 41.7 37.5
Bullied with mean names and comments about race or colour 12.5 8.3 9.1 0 8.3 4.2
Bullied with mean names and comments about religion 16.7 4.2 0 0 0 4.2
Bullied with sexual jokes, comments, or gestures 29.2 4.2 22.7 13.6 4.2 0
Relational Excluded from a group of friends or was completely ignored 45.8 14.3 27.1 9.1 20.8 12.5
Told lies or spread false rumours 33.3 4.2 18.2 9.1 20.8 4.2
Cyber Bullied using a computer or e-mail messages or pictures 12.5 8.3 4.5 4.5 4.2 0
Bullied using a mobile phone 0 0 0 0 8.3 4.2
ASD, autism spectrum disorder; LD/ADHD, learning disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
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We then examined whether the three groups differed with regards to types of victimization experienced, controlling for age. As illustrated in Fig. 1, there was a significant difference between groups (p < .05) for two of the nine types of bullying (left out on purpose; hit, kicked or pushed), with adolescents in the HF-ASD group reporting being left out on purpose significantly more than both adolescents in the control group, F(1,46) = 6.06, p < .05, d = .68, and adolescents in the LD/ADHD group, F(1,44) = 4.50, p < .05, d = .54. Adolescents with HF-ASD also reported being hit, kicked or pushed significantly more than adolescents in the control group, F(1,46) = 4.23, p < .05, d = .51, however, no significant difference was found between the adolescents with HF-ASD and adolescents with LD/ADHD for this type of bullying behaviour, F(1,44) = 3.44, p > .05. In comparing the adolescents with a LD/ADHD to the control group, no significant differences were found for being left out on purpose, F(1,44) = 0.19, p > .05, or for being hit, kicked or pushed, F(1,44) = 0.03, p > 0.05. Additional chi square tests revealed no difference between the three groups for the number of adolescents who reported bullying others (within the last couple of months) in some way.
Means and standard deviations for types of victimization experienced by ...
Fig. 1.
Means and standard deviations for types of victimization experienced by adolescents within the last two months. Significant group differences indicated for social isolation and physical victimization. aDifference between ASD and Control group, p < 0.05. bDifference between ASD and LD/ADHD group, p < 0.05.
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5.2. Parental versus child reports
Parental reports on bullying behaviour were available for 21 adolescents with HF-ASD, 23 adolescents in the control group, and 21 adolescents with a LD/ADHD. No significant differences were found between parent reports and child reports of victimization across all nine types of behaviours (p > 0.05) for both the adolescents in the HF-ASD group and the LD/ADHD group. However, there was a significant main effect of the control group, in that parents reported lower rates for their children for being called mean names/made fun of/teased than their children, F(1,44) = 5.88, p < 0.05, d = 0.72. 2 When examining differences between parent and child reports for bullying others, no significant differences were found for both the HF-ASD group and LD/ADHD across all nine types of behaviours (p > 0.05). However, there was a main effect for the control group, in that parents reported significantly lower rates of their child bullying others using mean names/making fun of/teasing than the children themselves, F(1,44) = 8.94, p < 0.05, d = 0.89. 3
