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Journal of autism and developmental disorders
Dec 17, 2024;

Exploring the Interpersonal Goals of Autistic and Neurotypical Adolescents Who Bully Others.

Elian Fink, Samantha Friedman, Tjeert Olthof, Sandra van der Meijden, Frits Goossens, Sander Begeer
Author Information
  1. Elian Fink: School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, BN1 9QH, UK. e.fink@sussex.ac.uk. ORCID
  2. Samantha Friedman: University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
  3. Tjeert Olthof: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  4. Sandra van der Meijden: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  5. Frits Goossens: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  6. Sander Begeer: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
PMID: 39690376 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06683-x

Abstract

The current study examined the association between interpersonal social goals (i.e., agentic and communal goals) and bullying behaviour for autistic adolescents (n = 108, M = 15.25 years, SD = 1.65) and neurotypical adolescents (n = 592, M = 13 years, SD = 0.5). Bullying behaviour was assessed using both self- and peer-reported measures. Agentic and communal social goals were assessed using the child version of the Interpersonal Goal Index. Measurement properties of the Interpersonal Goal Index were first examined, and some features were found to differ across autistic and neurotypical adolescents. Bullying behaviour was associated with agentic goals for neurotypical adolescents whereas communal goals were associated with bullying for autistic adolescents, suggesting a mismatch between social goals and social behaviours for this group. This insight suggests that the dynamics of bullying behaviour differ between neurotypical and autistic adolescents, and highlight the need for the development of autistic-led assessment and support for bullying.

Keywords

Adolescence Autism Bullying Interpersonal goals Specialist education provision

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