Childhood Victimization in a National Sample of Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background:  There are a number of hidden populations in the United States whose victimization goes undetected and unreported.

Objectives:  This studyaims to assess the victimization experiences of one such population: American children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

Methods:  Utilizing the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ), this study obtained past-year and lifetime prevalence rates of interpersonal violence in a sample of children with ASDs (N5262).

Results:  Results showed that almost 89% of these children had experienced an incident of victimization in their lifetime, while almost as many (82.1%) had experienced an incident within the last year. Among those who had been victimized once within the last year, 92% experienced at least a second victimization within that same time period, pointing to significant levels of poly-victimization. Risk ratios confirm that if a child experiences an incident of victimization in the past year, s/he is at risk to experience another type of victimization during that time frame, no matter what type of initial victimization exposure was examined.

Conclusions:  Previous research specifically addressing the victimization of children with ASDs in the United States has been limited and often focuses on a specific form of victimization, such as bullying. Implications include considering the impact of exposure to multiple forms of victimization and addressing the possibility of long-term trauma resulting from chronic exposure to victimization.