Project Activities
Research plan
The key aims of the project were to: (1) explore and describe the bullying experiences of adolescents with ASD and ID and (2) develop an accessible self-report bullying assessment for adolescents with ASD and ID to report their bullying experiences. First, the PI examined existing self-report bullying assessments for their appropriateness for youth with ASD and ID and adapted two bullying assessments to pilot with adolescents with ASD or ID. Probing cognitive interviewing techniques were used to determine whether students understood the questions and what supports students needed to complete the assessments. Responses on the assessments were compared to parent reports of bullying, ultimately determining that existing adapted assessments were not appropriate in this population. Using a mixed methods approach, the PI then developed a bullying assessment for students with ASD and/or ID. The PI conducted interviews with parents (n = 12) and adolescents with ASD and/or ID (n = 18). The themes and codes from the interviews were then used to develop a new bullying assessment. The PI wrote brief vignettes of bullying scenarios using the language of the adolescents and parents and the examples of bullying that they provided. Delphi panel members reviewed the vignettes and provided feedback. After incorporating revisions based on panel feedback, cartoon videos were created to accompany each vignette. The measure was piloted with five adolescents with ASD and then revised again. The final version of the self-report bullying assessment consists of 16 cartoon video scenarios that depict short vignettes of four types of bullying experiences (physical, relational, verbal, and property damage). Lastly, the PI assessed the bullying experiences of 22 adolescents with ASD using the final measure. Data were analyzed to determine whether the self-report assessment was accessible for students with ASD and to determine the types of bullying experiences reported by adolescents with ASD.
Career plan
Through a career development plan, the PI developed competencies in (1) assessing and conducting research with students with ASD; (2) conducting research in school settings; (3) planning, conducting, and analyzing results from mixed methods studies; and (4) developing competitive grant proposals. To do so, the PI engaged in meetings with mentors, coursework in statistics, workshops on mixed methods research, a training workshop on the ADOS-2, and grant-writing workshops.
Key outcomes
The main findings of this project, as reported by the PI, are as follows:
- In interviews conducted early in the project, adolescents with ASD and/or ID reported more direct forms of bullying victimization, whereas parents were aware of and described both direct and indirect forms of bullying.
- In these interviews, adolescents with ASD and/or ID also struggled to describe their bullying victimization experiences, often providing an inconsistent narrative with few details. Parents indicated that their adolescents do not always report or recognize experiences of bullying victimization.
- Using the self-report bullying assessment developed in this project, adolescents with ASD were able to understand and complete the questions, and open-ended responses were consistent to responses provided on the rating scale.
- Nearly 50% of the sample reported experiencing at least one type of bullying, according to responses on the self-report bullying assessment developed in this project.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Additional project information
Additional Resources:
Inside IES Research Blog: Autism Awareness & Acceptance Month
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
