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Grit in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” and is composed of two primary factors: consistency of interests over time and perseverance of effort (Duckworth et al., 2007). Grit is strongly predictive of a variety of long-term positive outcomes, ranging from higher academic GPA to greater job retention (e.g., Duckworth et al., 2007; Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014). Despite the long-term positive outcomes associated with grit, there are no studies in the extant research literature that have examined grit in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to examine diagnostic group differences in grit between children and adolescents with ASD and typical development.
Methods:
Children and adolescents with typical development (n = 8) and ASD (n = 10), as well as their parents, participated in the current study. Children and adolescents ranged in age from 9-17. Diagnostic groups were matched on age, t(16) = -0.96, p = 0.35, verbal IQ, t(16) = 1.62, p = 0.12, performance IQ, t(16) = 0.56, p = 0.58, and gender, χ² (1, N = 18) = 0.68, p = 0.41. Parents used the Short Grit Scale to report on their child’s level of grit (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Preliminary ANCOVAs was used to evaluate the effect of diagnostic group (typical development vs. ASD), controlling for age and verbal IQ, on three dependent variables: the Grit Total Scale, the Consistency of Interests Subscale, and the Perseverance of Effort Subscale. As age and verbal IQ did not have a significant effect in any of the preliminary analyses, they were removed from the final analyses.
Results:
There was a significant effect of diagnostic group on the Grit Total Scale, F(1, 16) = 7.42, p = 0.02, η²p = 0.32, and the Consistency of Interests Subscale, F(1, 16) = 19.35, p < 0.01, η²p = 0.55, such that parents rated children and adolescents with typical development as being more gritty and having more consistent interests over time than children and adolescents with ASD. There was not a significant effect of diagnostic group on the Perseverance of Effort Subscale, F(1, 16) = 0.34, p = 0.57, η²p= 0.02.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that children and adolescents with ASD are less gritty than children and adolescents with typical development, due almost exclusively to less consistency in interests over time. Although children and adolescents with ASD consistently show restricted interests over time (e.g., Joseph et al., 2013), the specific nature of these restricted interests may change over time, making it difficult for children and adolescents with ASD to steadily focus on and pursue long-term goals. Old goals associated with old restricted interests may be replaced by new goals associated with new restricted interests, such that goals are regularly replaced and rarely attained. This research suggests that maintaining consistent interests over time may be integral to building grit in children and adolescents with ASD and attaining long-term social, educational, and/or vocational goals.