In a study based on information collected from 920 parents, an estimated 46.3% of adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder were the victims of bullying.
Bullying involves negative actions toward a peer and is characterized by a power imbalance — physical, social or cognitive — between the victim and the perpetrator, according to background information in the study, which appeared Sept. 3 on the website of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Relatively little research has examined bullying involvement among adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder, the researchers said.
Paul R. Sterzing, PhD, MSSW, who was with Washington University in St. Louis while conducting the study, and colleagues analyzed nationally representative surveys and found that the prevalence of bullying victimization for adolescents with an ASD was 46.3% — substantially higher than the national prevalence estimates for the general adolescent population (10.6%).
The rates of perpetration of bullying (14.8%) and victimization/perpetration (8.9%, i.e. those who both perpetrate and are the victims of bullying) were about equivalent to national estimates found among typically developing adolescents.
Victimization among adolescents in the study was related to having a non-Hispanic ethnicity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, lower social skills, some form of conversational ability and more classes in general education, the results indicated.
"Future interventions should incorporate content that addresses the core deficits of adolescents with an ASD, which limits their verbal ability to report bullying incidents," the authors wrote. "Schools should incorporate strategies that address conversational difficulties and the unique challenges of those with comorbid conditions."
"Inclusive classrooms need to increase the social integration of adolescents with ASD into protective peer groups while also enhancing the empathy and social skills of typically developing students toward their peers with an ASD and other developmental disabilities," the authors added.
The study abstract is available at http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1355390.
Bullying involves negative actions toward a peer and is characterized by a power imbalance — physical, social or cognitive — between the victim and the perpetrator, according to background information in the study, which appeared Sept. 3 on the website of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Relatively little research has examined bullying involvement among adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder, the researchers said.
Paul R. Sterzing, PhD, MSSW, who was with Washington University in St. Louis while conducting the study, and colleagues analyzed nationally representative surveys and found that the prevalence of bullying victimization for adolescents with an ASD was 46.3% — substantially higher than the national prevalence estimates for the general adolescent population (10.6%).
The rates of perpetration of bullying (14.8%) and victimization/perpetration (8.9%, i.e. those who both perpetrate and are the victims of bullying) were about equivalent to national estimates found among typically developing adolescents.
Victimization among adolescents in the study was related to having a non-Hispanic ethnicity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, lower social skills, some form of conversational ability and more classes in general education, the results indicated.
"Future interventions should incorporate content that addresses the core deficits of adolescents with an ASD, which limits their verbal ability to report bullying incidents," the authors wrote. "Schools should incorporate strategies that address conversational difficulties and the unique challenges of those with comorbid conditions."
"Inclusive classrooms need to increase the social integration of adolescents with ASD into protective peer groups while also enhancing the empathy and social skills of typically developing students toward their peers with an ASD and other developmental disabilities," the authors added.
The study abstract is available at http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1355390.
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