Abstract
Anxiety and depression are common among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), highlighting a need to identify factors that protect against these symptoms. Among typically develo** children, friendships are protective, and lead to better emotional outcomes. The current study examined a large, well-characterized sample of children and adolescents with ASD to examine the relations among friendship, ASD symptom severity, and anxiety/depression. Rates of anxiety/depression were high in this sample. Greater ASD severity was associated with fewer symptoms of anxiety/depression, lower IQ, and poorer number and/or quality of reciprocal friendships. Surprisingly, children with no or very poor dyadic relationships experienced less anxiety than those with existing, but limited, friendships. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for child behavior checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms & profiles: An integrated system of multi-informant assessment. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth & Families.
Alfano, C. A., Beidel, D. C., & Turner, S. M. (2002). Cognition in childhood anxiety: Conceptual methodological and developmental issues. Clinical Psychology Review, 22(8), 1209–1238.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Barlow, D. H. (2002). Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Publications.
Bauminger, N., & Kasari, C. (2000). Loneliness and friendship in high-functioning children with autism. Child Development, 71(2), 447–456.
Bauminger, N., & Shulman, C. (2003). The development and maintenance of friendship in high-functioning children with autism: Maternal perceptions. Autism, 7(1), 81–97.
Bauminger, N., Shulman, C., & Agam, G. (2004). The link between perceptions of self and of social relationships in high-functioning children with autism. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 16(2), 193–214.
Bauminger, N., Solomon, M., Aviezer, A., Heung, K., Brown, J., & Rogers, S. (2008). Friendship in high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder: mixed and non-mixed dyads. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(7), 1211–1229.
Beck, A. T., & Clark, D. A. (1988). Anxiety and depression: An information processing perspective. Anxiety Research, 1(1), 23–36.
Bellini, S. (2004). Social skill deficits and anxiety in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 19(2), 78–86.
Bukowski, W. M., Hoza, B., & Boivin, M. (1994). Measuring friendship quality during pre- and early adolescence: The development and psychometric properties of the friendship qualities scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11(3), 471–484.
Caldwell, M. S., Rudolph, K. D., Troop-Gordon, W., & Kim, D.-Y. (2004). Reciprocal influences among relational self-views, social disengagement, and peer stress during early adolescence. Child Development, 75(4), 1140–1154.
Chamberlain, B., Kasari, C., & Rotheram-Fuller, E. (2007). Involvement or isolation? The social networks of children with autism in regular classrooms. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(2), 230–242.
Chorpita, B. F., & Barlow, D. H. (1998). The development of anxiety: The role of control in the early environment. Psychological Bulletin, 124(1), 3–21.
Cicchetti, D., & Cohen, D. J. (1995). Perspectives on developmental psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Theory and methods (Vol. 1, pp. 3–22). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Dawson, G., & Fernald, M. (1987). Perspective-taking ability and its relationship to the social behavior of autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 17(4), 487–498.
Elliot, C. (2007). Differential abilities scale—2nd edition (DAS-II) manual. San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment, Inc.
Gillott, A., Furniss, F., & Walter, A. (2001). Anxiety in high-functioning children with autism. Autism, 5(3), 277–286.
Gotham, K., Pickles, A., & Lord, C. (2009). Standardizing ADOS scores for a measure of severity in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(5), 693–705.
Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self: A developmental perspective. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Hobson, P., Chidambi, G., Lee, A., & Meyer, J. (2006). Self-awareness in developmental perspective. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 71(2), 1–28.
Hodges, E. V. E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1999). The power of friendship: protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35(1), 94–101.
Iacoboni, M. (2006). Failure to deactivate in autism: The co-constitution of self and other. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(10), 431–433.
Kanne, S. M., Abbacchi, A. M., & Constantino, J. N. (2009). Multi-informant ratings of psychiatric symptom severity in children with autism spectrum disorders: The importance of environmental context. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(6), 856–864.
Kelly, A., Garnett, M., Attwood, T., & Peterson, C. (2008). Autism spectrum symptomatology in children: The impact of family and peer relationships. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(7), 1069–1081.
Kim, J. A., Szatmari, P., Bryson, S. E., Streiner, D. L., & Wilson, F. J. (2000). The prevalence of anxiety and mood problems among children with autism and Asperger syndrome. Autism, 4(2), 117–132.
Koning, C., & Magill-Evans, J. (2001). Social and language skills in adolescent boys with Asperger syndrome. Autism, 5(1), 23–36.
Kupersmidt, J. B., Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1990). The role of poor peer relationships in the development of disorder. In S. R. Asher & J. D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood (pp. 274–305). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Ladd, G. W. (1990). Having friends, kee** friends, making friends, and being liked by peers in the classroom: predictors of children’s early school adjustment? Child Development, 61(4), 1081–1100.
Ladd, G. W. (2006). Peer rejection, aggressive or withdrawn behavior, and psychological maladjustment from ages 5 to 12: An examination of four predictive models. Child Development, 77(4), 822–846.
Ladd, G. W., & Troop-Gordon, W. (2003). The role of chronic peer difficulties in the development of children’s psychological adjustment problems. Child Development, 74(5), 1344–1367.
Leyfer, O. T., Folstein, S. E., Bacalman, S., Davis, N. O., Dinh, E., Morgan, J., et al. (2006). Comorbid psychiatric disorders in children with autism: Interview development and rates of disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(7), 849–861.
Linsey, E. W. (2002). Preschool children’s friendships and peer acceptance: Links to social competence. Child Study Journal, 32(3), 145–156.
Little, L. (2002). Middle-class mothers’ perceptions of peer and sibling victimization among children with Asperger’s syndrome and nonverbal learning disorders. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, 24, 43–57.
Lord, C., DiLavorne, P. C., & Risi, S. (2002). Autism diagnostic observation schedule. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Lord, C., & Rutter, M. (1994). Autism diagnostic interview-revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24(5), 659–685.
Mullen, E. M. (1995). Mullen scales of early learning (AGS edition ed.). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service, Inc.
Ochs, E., Kremer-Sadlik, T., Solomon, O., & Sirota, K. (2001). Inclusion as social practice: Views of children with autism. Social Development, 10(3), 399–419.
Orsmond, G. I., Krauss, M. W., & Seltzer, M. M. (2004). Peer relationships and social and recreational activities among adolescents and adults with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(3), 245–256.
Prinstein, M. J., & Aikins, J. W. (2004). Cognitive moderators of the longitudinal association between peer rejection and adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32(2), 147–158.
Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(8), 741–756.
Ruble, D. N., Boggiano, A. K., Feldman, N. S., & Loebl, J. H. (1980). Developmental analysis of the role of social comparison in self-evaluation. Developmental Psychology, 16(2), 105–115.
Rutter, M., Le Couteur, A., & Lord, C. (2003). Autism diagnostic interview-revised. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Simonoff, E. M., Pickles, A. P., Charman, T. P., Chandler, S. P., Loucas, T. O. M. P., & Baird, G. F. (2008). Psychiatric disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders: prevalence, comorbidity, and associated factors in a population-derived sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(8), 921–929.
Strauss, C. C., Lahey, B. B., Frick, P., Frame, C. L., et al. (1988). Peer social status of children with anxiety disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(1), 137–141.
Sukhodolsky, D., Scahill, L., Gadow, K., Arnold, L., Aman, M., McDougle, C., et al. (2008). Parent-rated anxiety symptoms in children with pervasive developmental disorders: Frequency and association with core autism symptoms and cognitive functioning. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(1), 117–128.
Troop-Gordon, W., & Ladd, G. W. (2005). Trajectories of peer victimization and perceptions of the self and schoolmates: Precursors to internalizing and externalizing problems. Child Development, 76(5), 1072–1091.
Wechsler, D. (1999). The Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (2003). Wechsler intelligence scale for children (4th ed. ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Williams, J. M. G., Watts, F. N., MacLeod, C., & Mathews, A. (1988). Cognitive psychology and emotional disorders. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation (SFARI award #26021565-08C000066 to Judith Miles). We are grateful to all of the families at the participating Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) sites, as well as the principal investigators (A. Beaudet, A. Klin, B. Peterson, C. Lord, C. Martin, C. Saulnier, C. Walsh, D. Geschwind, D. Grice, D. Ledbetter, D. Martin, E. Cook, E. Fombonne, E. Wijsman, J. Miles, J. Constantino, J. Piggot, J. Sutcliffe, M. State, O. Ousley, R. Bernier, R. Kochel, R. Maxim, W. Stone). We appreciate obtaining access to phenotypic data on SFARI Base, https://ordering.base.sfari.org/~browse_collection/ui:finder()#!a:/archive[sfari_collection_v6]/ui:view().
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mazurek, M.O., Kanne, S.M. Friendship and Internalizing Symptoms Among Children and Adolescents with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 40, 1512–1520 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1014-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1014-y