Gender Differences in the Social Motivation and Friendship Experiences of Autistic and Non-autistic Adolescents

Felicity Sedgewick; Vivian Hill; Rhiannon Yates; Leanne Pickering; Elizabeth Pellicano

doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2669-1

Gender Differences in the Social Motivation and Friendship Experiences of Autistic and Non-autistic Adolescents

J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Apr;46(4):1297-306. doi: 10.1007/s10803-015-2669-1.

Authors

Felicity Sedgewick¹, Vivian Hill¹, Rhiannon Yates¹, Leanne Pickering¹, Elizabeth Pellicano^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, UK.
² Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, UK. l.pellicano@ucl.ac.uk.
³ School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. l.pellicano@ucl.ac.uk.

Abstract

This mixed-methods study examined gender differences in the social motivation and friendship experiences of adolescent boys and girls with autism relative to those without autism, all educated within special education settings. Autistic girls showed similar social motivation and friendship quality to non-autistic girls, while autistic boys reported having both qualitatively different friendships and less motivation for social contact relative to boys without autism and to girls with and without autism. Semi-structured interviews with the adolescents corroborated these findings, with one exception: autistic girls reported high levels of relational aggression within their friendships, suggesting that girls on the autism spectrum in particular may struggle with identifying and dealing with conflict in their social lives.

Keywords: Autism; Friendship; Gender; Girls; Peer relationships; Social motivation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior / psychology*
Aggression
Autistic Disorder / psychology*
Case-Control Studies
Female
Friends / psychology*
Humans
Interpersonal Relations*
Male
Motivation*
Sex Characteristics*
Social Behavior*