Is Bullying Associated with Emerging School Refusal in Autistic Boys?
The experience of being bullied is widespread among autistic youth. Relatively little empirical work has been done on the relationship between the bullying of these youth and school refusal (SR). This study of 67 school-age autistic boys (M = 11.7 years, SD = 2.3 years) examined several factors that may contribute to SR. Data regarding boys' age, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), key ASD diagnostic criteria, and frequency of being bullied were collected. Results indicated that, while boys displaying emerging SR also had significantly higher GAD and MDD than boys without emerging SR, only the frequency of being bullied made a significant contribution to emerging SR. Implications for prevention and treatment of SR among autistic youth are discussed.
['Bitsika|Vicki|V|', 'Heyne|David A|DA|', 'Sharpley|Christopher F|CF|http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7922-4848']
D000293:Adolescent D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder D058445:Bullying D002648:Child D003865:Depressive Disorder, Major D006801:Humans D008297:Male D011594:Psychometrics D012574:Schools D013334:Students
Bullying School refusal Anxiety Depression Autism