Rodriguez Geovanna, Drastal Kim, Hartley Sigan L
University of Oregon, USA.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Autism. 2021 Jan;25(1):90-101. doi: 10.1177/1362361320947513. Epub 2020 Sep 12.
Youth with autism spectrum disorders are disproportionately at risk for bullying victimization compared to typically developing children and adolescents. While internalizing and externalizing mental health problems have been linked to victimization experiences, few studies have examined the longitudinal effects bullying victimization experiences may have on youth mental health outcomes. The present study investigated longitudinal associations between bullying victimization and mental health problems in a sample of children with autism in middle childhood to early adolescence (aged 5 to 12 years). Findings from our study suggest that youth with autism who experienced bullying victimization (versus no victimization) were older in age, had more severe autism symptoms, and higher levels of internalizing and externalizing mental health problems at study onset. Though externalizing mental health problems at study onset (Time 1) did not relate to change in the likelihood of being bullied one year later (Time 2), experiences of bullying victimization did relate to an increase in parent reports of internalizing mental health problems. This study expanded on previous cross-sectional studies by including two waves of data in a relatively large sample of youth with autism and highlights important information that may be helpful in adapting approaches to intervention at the individual level. Moreover, our findings support the need for bullying programs that may need to focus particular attention to subgroups of youth with autism who may be most at-risk for bullying victimization such as those with more autism symptoms and those with past experiences of victimization (given the chronic nature of bullying).
与发育正常的儿童和青少年相比，患有自闭症谱系障碍的青少年遭受欺凌的风险更高。虽然内化和外化心理健康问题与受欺凌经历有关，但很少有研究考察过欺凌受害经历对青少年心理健康结果可能产生的纵向影响。本研究调查了童年中期到青春期早期（5至12岁）的自闭症儿童样本中，欺凌受害与心理健康问题之间的纵向关联。我们的研究结果表明，经历过欺凌受害（与未受害相比）的自闭症青少年在研究开始时年龄更大，自闭症症状更严重，内化和外化心理健康问题水平更高。虽然研究开始时（时间1）的外化心理健康问题与一年后（时间2）被欺凌可能性的变化无关，但欺凌受害经历确实与家长报告的内化心理健康问题增加有关。本研究通过在相对较大的自闭症青少年样本中纳入两波数据，扩展了以往的横断面研究，并突出了一些重要信息，这些信息可能有助于调整个体层面的干预方法。此外，我们的研究结果支持开展欺凌防治项目的必要性，这些项目可能需要特别关注那些可能最容易遭受欺凌受害的自闭症青少年亚群体，比如那些自闭症症状更严重的青少年以及有过受害经历的青少年（考虑到欺凌的长期性）。
