Psychopathologies mediate the link between autism spectrum disorder and bullying involvement: A follow-up study

Autistic Traits and Cyberbullying Involvement Mediated by Psychopathologies and School Functions in a Nationally Representative Child Sample

Cyberbullying has become an international concern among youth with autistic traits in the digital age. It draws the attention of professionals in mental health and education due to its potentially severe psychosocial and academic impacts. However, there is limited knowledge about the mediators for these associations. This study investigated whether school dysfunction and comorbid psychopathologies mediated the link between autistic traits and cyberbullying. We used a nationally representative sample of 9,483 students (9-14 years of age). The instruments included the Social Responsiveness Scale for autistic traits; the Cyberbullying Experiences Questionnaire for cyberbullying victimization and perpetration; the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, version IV for inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and oppositional behaviors; the Child Behavior Checklist for anxiety/depression; and the Social Adjustment Inventory for Children and Adolescents for impaired school functions. Multiple mediation models were used for statistical analyses. The results showed that the 1-year prevalence rates of pure victims, pure perpetrators, and bully-victims of cyberbullying were 7.9 percent, 2.4 percent, and 5.7 percent, respectively. Cyberbullying victimization and perpetration were positively associated with autistic traits, school dysfunction, and comorbid psychopathologies. The associations between autistic traits and cyberbullying victims and bully-victims were significantly mediated by school dysfunction and hyperactivity/impulsivity (only for bully-victims), independent of sex and age. Our results suggest that early identification and intervention of these difficulties may mitigate the risks of cyberbullying. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02707848.

Longitudinal studies of challenging behaviours in autistic children and adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Autistic children and adults are at increased risk of showing behaviours that may be described as challenging, however, little is known about whether or how these behaviours may change over time. Given the profound impact that challenging behaviour can have on both the autistic individual and their support network, it is critical that the trajectory of challenging behaviours be better understood. This systematic review and meta-analysis identified and synthesised observational longitudinal studies of challenging behaviour in autistic individuals. Fifty-six studies were included in the systematic review, and the effect sizes of 37 independent samples arising from 34 of these reports were examined through meta-analysis. Crucially, across the 37 samples, scores on the measures of challenging behaviour reduced by a small, yet significant, extent over time. Although age of the sample at baseline assessment did not moderate the effect, the time between the baseline assessment and final follow-up and age at final follow-up both moderated the magnitude of the effect, with challenging behaviour scores reducing to a larger extent in (a) studies with longer intervals between baseline and final follow-up and (b) studies with older samples at follow-up. The results from the current systematic review and meta-analysis have both theoretical and practical implications for understanding challenging behaviour over time in autistic individuals. Avenues for future research are also highlighted that may allow better understanding, and therefore support of, challenging behaviour in autistic individuals.

Bullying experiences and mothers’ responses to bullying of children with autism spectrum disorder

Despite the fact that children with disabilities generally have been shown to be at a greater risk of bullying, which include physical attacks and threats, being picked on and teased and verbal abuse, there is still a need to understand bullying of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the strategies used by parents to support them in tackling this issue. This study aims to investigate the type and level of occurrence of bullying and parental support for children aged five with ASD who suffer from bullying. This study used both quantitative and qualitative analysis; a questionnaire, distributed to mothers of children with ASD, adopted from the Bullying for ASD Survey developed by Chen and Schwartz (Focus Autism Other Dev Disabil 27(4):200–212, 2012) measured types and frequency of bullying and parental support. An open-ended question was added to the survey to enable parents to write about the ways in which their child was bullied and the ways in which they supported their child. The results showed that while children suffered from all types of bullying, especially being picked on, being excluded and called names. Parental support showed a higher prevalence of involving peers and teachers for the prevention of bullying as well as avoiding strategies which included avoiding bullies and none of the mothers encouraged their children to stand up to bullies.