Bullying Trajectories from Childhood to Adolescence: The Relationship with Mental Health Outcomes for Autistic and Neurotypical Youth

Autistic youth are more likely to be involved in bullying, have poorer mental health, and experience friendships and social support differently compared to neurotypical youth. What remains unclear is whether relationship between bullying and mental health is different for autistic and neurotypical youth and whether friendships and social support moderate this relationship. In this United Kingdom based population-based study, we investigated the relationship between bullying involvement, victimisation and perpetration, from early childhood (age 5 years) through to mid-adolescence (age 14 years) with mental health outcomes in later adolescence (age 17 years) for autistic (n= 576) and neurotypical youth (n=14,963). We used parent-, teacher-, and self-reports of bullying at ages 5, 7, 11, and 14 years, to identify five bullying trajectory groups (uninvolved, adolescence victim, early childhood victim, early childhood bully, and bully-victims). Autistic youth were more likely than their neurotypical peers to be in one of the bullying trajectory groups compared to being in the uninvolved group. Specifically, 74% of autistic youth experienced bullying either as victims, bullies, or bully-victims between early childhood and adolescence compared to 38% of neurotypical youth. Both autistic and neurotypical youth who were involved in bullying, whether as a perpetrator or victim, experienced poorer subsequent mental health later in adolescence. Higher perceived social support buffered the effects of bullying involvement for neurotypical and to a lesser extent autistic youth. These findings highlight the need for further research focussing on possible targets for intervention to mitigate the possible impacts of bullying on subsequent mental health for autistic youth.