Don't anger me! Bullying, victimization, and emotion dysregulation in young adolescents with ASD

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to increase our knowledge regarding the role that emotional functioning can play in the genesis of bullying and victimization at school for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, we examined the unique associations of basic emotions (anger and fear) and moral emotions (shame and guilt) with bullying and victimization in children with an ASD and a control group with typically developing (TD) children. The study included 130 children and young adolescents (64 with ASD, 66 TD, M age 140 months), who filled out self-report questionnaires. The main findings showed that in both groups less guilt and more anger were associated with more bullying. More fear was associated with more victimization in TD children only. Yet, more anger was also strongly and uniquely associated with more victimization in children with ASD, but not in TD children. These outcomes support the idea that lack of guilt is a pivotal antecedent of bullying for TD and ASD children. However, unlike TD children, the dysregulation of anger seems to play an important role in victimization as well as bullying in children with ASD.