زورگویی جوانان مبتلا به اختلال طیف اوتیسم، ناتوانی ذهنی و یا توسعه معمولی:دیدگاه قربانیان و پدر و مادر

Abstract In-depth interviews conducted separately with 13-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), or typical development (TD) and their mothers investigated the experiences of victimization in the form of bullying. Coded constructs from the interviews were utilized to compare groups on the frequency, type, and impact of victimization. Youth with ASD were victimized more frequently than their ID or TD peers, and the groups differed with regard to the type of bullying and the impact it had, with ASD youth faring the worst. Higher internalizing problems and conflict in friendships were found to be significant predictors of victimization, according to both youth- and mother-reports. These predictors were found to be more salient than ASD status alone. Implications for practice are discussed.

Introduction Victims of bullying often endure repeated exposure to intentional negative actions on the part of one or more individuals, especially if there is an imbalance of power in their relationship (Olweus, 1994). This problematic behavior is prevalent among all adolescents in the U.S., with 28–30% of students reported to be involved in bullying behaviors (Carlyle and Stenman, 2007, Nansel et al., 2001 and National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). Sadly, there is reason to believe that youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID) experience even more bullying than their typically developing (TD) peers. This study addressed the need for research on the frequency, type, and impact of victimization by incorporating the perspectives of three groups of youth—ASD, ID and TD—and their mothers. 1.1. Victimization of ASD and ID youth Nearly seven decades ago, Hans Asperger wrote about the tendency of children with autism to be tormented and rejected by their classmates (Asperger, 1944). This situation has not changed much today, with high rates of victimization reported for children and youth with ASD at school. For example, Cappadocia, Weiss, and Pepler (2012) found that 77% of 192 parents reported that their child with ASD, aged 5–21 years, had been bullied at school within the last month, with 46% reporting even more frequent victimization (i.e., “once per week” or “several times per week”). Studies involving comparison groups are useful for understanding whether youth with ASD experience more frequent bullying than other disability groups or their TD peers. Research has indicated that youth with ASD experience more social exclusion (Locke, Ishjima, Kasari, & London, 2010), are more likely to be verbally and physically bullied, and, relative to TD youth, are more likely to have peers in their class “who do not like them” (Wainscot, Naylor, Sutcliffe, & Williams, 2008). Research has also shown that repeated victimization is significantly higher for elementary and middle school students with ASD than for other disability groups, as reported from a longitudinal dataset (Blake, Lund, Zhou, Kwok, & Benz, 2012) as well as in ratings by parents (Rowley et al., 2012). Christensen, Fryant, Neece, and Baker (2012) compared the prevalence, chronicity, and severity of bullying between 13-year-old adolescents with ID (N = 46) and TD youth (N = 91). Adolescents with ID experienced significantly higher rates of victimization (62%) compared to their TD peers (41%). Yet, the chronicity and severity was not found to differ between groups. This study also reported the agreement between mother and youth accounts of victimization, which was low. Although mothers and adolescents agreed fairly well about whether victimization occurred, they did not agree about the severity or frequency of bullying or whether the adolescent had bullied others. In a study of 186 adolescents with mild ID aged 12–21, 83% of the sample reported having been bullied physically, emotionally, and/or verbally ( Reiter & Lapidot-Leflet, 2007). In the present study, we explored the similarities and differences between ASD and ID youth, relative to TD youth. 1.2. The role of friendships in adolescence Friendships are important in adolescence, possibly providing some protection against bullying, as friends serve a variety of functions, including emotional security, advice, validation, and opportunities for intimate disclosure. Potentially, they also can increase self-esteem and social skills and provide a context for continued exploration of the impact of an adolescent's personal actions on himself and others (Rubin et al., 2006a and Rubin et al., 2008). Friendships, theoretically, are reciprocal and voluntary, and presumably acknowledged by both parties (Rubin et al., 2008 and Rubin et al., 2006b).

. Conclusions and implications For youth with ASD, perhaps targeting their internalizing behavior problems in intervention settings would help to ameliorate their bullying experiences. A better understanding of the nature of the relationships among victimization in the form of bullying, friendships, and internalizing problems among adolescents with ASD and ID can assist researchers in designing interventions suited to meet their needs. Presently, there are social skills interventions aimed at improving social-communication, assertion, and conflict resolution skills among adolescents (Laugeson et al., 2012, Learner et al., 2011, Tse et al., 2007 and White et al., 2010). The UCLA PEERS program, in particular, has components aimed at recognizing and addressing bullying behaviors (Laugeson et al., 2012). Laugeson (2013) provided separate chapters as a guide for handling each type of bullying (i.e., physical, relational, verbal and cyber), although there is no specific focus on characteristics such as internalizing disorders. Others have used counseling/discussion-based formats to help youth with internalizing problems such as social anxiety (Hillier et al., 2007 and Hillier et al., 2011). The present study found associations between bullying, conflict in friendships, and internalizing behavior. It is our hope that these results will contribute to interventionists’ knowledge so that the risk factors can be decreased among affected adolescents. Reducing the risk factors through intervention may lead to a better quality of life for these individuals as they transition from early adolescence into adulthood