Personal victimization experiences of autistic and non-autistic children.
Natalie Libster, Azia Knox, Selin Engin and 3 others
PMID 36566252WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic children were 7.77 times more likely to report bullying than non-autistic peers.
Counterintuitively, autistic children with fewer social difficulties reported more bullying. Boys and girls experienced similar rates, but girls cited trouble with flexibility and emotions as causes, while boys cited social interaction challenges.
Key findings
01Autistic children were 7.77 times more likely than non-autistic children to report having been bullied.
02Among autistic children, those with lower autism symptom severity scores were significantly more likely to report bullying victimization.
03Qualitative analysis showed sex differences in the reasons for peer conflict: autistic boys cited social interaction difficulties, while autistic girls cited issues with cognitive flexibility and emotion control.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only included children with spoken language and average to above-average IQs who could answer at least half the interview questions. This excludes autistic children with greater communication difficulties who may experience bullying but cannot report it. The sample was predominantly White (68%), limiting generalizability to other racial and ethnic groups. The ADOS may not fully capture the presentation of autism in girls, as it was developed with a predominantly male population. Girls may have had more autistic traits than their scores indicated. Data came from clinical evaluations, not real-time observation in schools, so the context of the bullying was not observed directly. Executive functioning was not measured quantitatively, so differences in how it affected boys versus girls could not be statistically compared.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests. The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Health (P50HD055784, 2R01MH100027-11).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving social skills will reduce bullying risk. In this study, autistic children with lower symptom severity and better social affect scores reported more bullying, suggesting that increased social awareness or motivation may elevate risk rather than protect against it.