Different Tools, Different Results: Comparing Methods for Bullying Assessment in Autistic and ADHD Youth

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Autistic and ADHD youth experience higher rates of peer victimization, leading to negative educational and mental health outcomes.
• Existing bullying interventions show limited success in these populations, partly due to inconsistent assessment methods.
• General bullying assessment tools may not adequately capture the unique experiences of autistic and ADHD youth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agreement and sensitivity of three bullying assessment methods: a single-item assessment, the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire (OBQ), and the Assessment of Bullying Experiences (ABE).
• To examine group differences in victimization risk among autistic, ADHD, and community youth.
• To determine the most effective method for assessing bullying in autistic and ADHD populations.

Main Methods:

• Caregivers of 516 autistic, ADHD, and community youth completed the single-item assessment, OBQ, and ABE.
• Agreement across measures was analyzed using percent agreement, Cohen's kappa, and McNemar's tests.
• Logistic regression models identified group differences in bullying classification for each measure.

Main Results:

• Moderate agreement was found between the OBQ and ABE overall, but agreement weakened within autistic and ADHD groups.
• The single-item assessment underestimated bullying prevalence and failed to detect group differences.
• ADHD youth showed significantly higher bullying risk (OR=2.81, OBQ; OR=2.76, ABE). Autistic youth with co-occurring ADHD vulnerability was identified only by ABE (OR=2.34).

Conclusions:

• Single-item and general bullying assessment tools have limitations in capturing disability-specific victimization experiences.
• The ABE demonstrates greater sensitivity in assessing bullying among autistic and ADHD youth due to its inclusion of disability-specific behaviors.
• Theory-driven frameworks and disability-specific assessments are crucial for improving bullying risk assessment and intervention for autistic and ADHD youth.