Bullying-related behaviour in adolescents with autism: Links with autism severity and emotional and behavioural problems.
Bullying in autistic teens links to behavior and peer trouble, not how autistic they are.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Fink et al. (2018) asked adolescents with autism about bullying. They also asked parents and teachers.
The teens went to special-education schools. Everyone filled out surveys on who bullied, who was victimized, and how severe the autism traits were.
What they found
Bullying dropped as kids got older. It was tied to behavior problems, not to autism severity.
Victimization linked only to peer problems. How autistic a teen was did not predict bullying.
How this fits with other research
Maïano et al. (2016) pooled 17 studies and found 44% of youth with ASD are victimized. Elian’s work fits inside that big picture.
Zablotsky et al. (2014) said high autistic traits raise risk. Elian shows the traits alone don’t drive bullying; behavior problems do. The two papers talk past each other until you see Benjamin looked at parent-only data while Elian used multi-informant reports.
Deniz et al. (2026) tracked the same group over time and found chronic bullying hurts mental health. Elian gives the snapshot; Emre shows the long road.
Why it matters
Stop blaming autism severity for bullying. Watch for behavior issues and peer problems instead. Add social-skills groups and teach classmates to spot and stop bullying. These moves target the real levers Elian uncovered.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined the association between peer-reported bullying-related behaviours (bully, victim, outsider and defender), age, gender, autism severity and teacher-rated emotional and behavioural problems in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, using a multi-informant approach. The sample comprised 120 adolescents (11% girls, Mage = 15.6 years, standard deviation = 1.89 years) attending a special school for children with autism. Results show that bullying decreased with age and was associated with behavioural problems, while victimisation was only associated with peer problems - a pattern of results comparable to studies exploring these associations in typically developing children. However, there were few associations among study variables for outsider or defender behaviours in this sample. Notably, children's autism severity did not significantly predict bullying-related behaviours.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2018 · doi:10.1177/1362361316686760