Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports

Children and adolescents with an intellectual disability (ID) and autistic traits often attend special needs schools where they are surrounded by peers with diverse characteristics. Given the role that peers can play in social development, we examined whether autistic traits development in students...

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Autores principales:	Gina Nenniger, Verena Hofmann, Christoph M. Müller
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	autistic traits autism spectrum disorder peer influence gender intellectual disabilities special needs schools Psychology BF1-990
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cdc4c6ecac5d48e88bc9089108866f72
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cdc4c6ecac5d48e88bc9089108866f722021-11-04T04:59:05ZGender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports1664-107810.3389/fpsyg.2021.718726https://doaj.org/article/cdc4c6ecac5d48e88bc9089108866f722021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718726/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078Children and adolescents with an intellectual disability (ID) and autistic traits often attend special needs schools where they are surrounded by peers with diverse characteristics. Given the role that peers can play in social development, we examined whether autistic traits development in students with ID and high levels of such characteristics are influenced by the level of autistic traits among the schoolmates they like most. Furthermore, we investigated the degree to which this peer influence susceptibility depends on students’ gender. A longitudinal design, with data collection points at the beginning and the end of a school year, was used. Staff reported on 330 students with high levels of autistic traits (20.6% girls; age 10.17 years, SD = 3.74) who attended 142 classrooms in 16 Swiss special needs schools. Results showed that students’ future individual level of autistic traits (T2) was not predicted by the autistic traits level of preferred peers (T1), controlling for individual autistic traits at T1, level of general functioning, gender, and age. However, the peer effect was significantly moderated by students’ gender, indicating that girls but not boys were susceptible to peer influence. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding autistic traits development and directions of support for children and adolescents in their peer context.Gina NennigerVerena HofmannChristoph M. MüllerFrontiers Media S.A.articleautistic traitsautism spectrum disorderpeer influencegenderintellectual disabilitiesspecial needs schoolsPsychologyBF1-990ENFrontiers in Psychology, Vol 12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	autistic traits autism spectrum disorder peer influence gender intellectual disabilities special needs schools Psychology BF1-990
spellingShingle	autistic traits autism spectrum disorder peer influence gender intellectual disabilities special needs schools Psychology BF1-990 Gina Nenniger Verena Hofmann Christoph M. Müller Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports
description	Children and adolescents with an intellectual disability (ID) and autistic traits often attend special needs schools where they are surrounded by peers with diverse characteristics. Given the role that peers can play in social development, we examined whether autistic traits development in students with ID and high levels of such characteristics are influenced by the level of autistic traits among the schoolmates they like most. Furthermore, we investigated the degree to which this peer influence susceptibility depends on students’ gender. A longitudinal design, with data collection points at the beginning and the end of a school year, was used. Staff reported on 330 students with high levels of autistic traits (20.6% girls; age 10.17 years, SD = 3.74) who attended 142 classrooms in 16 Swiss special needs schools. Results showed that students’ future individual level of autistic traits (T2) was not predicted by the autistic traits level of preferred peers (T1), controlling for individual autistic traits at T1, level of general functioning, gender, and age. However, the peer effect was significantly moderated by students’ gender, indicating that girls but not boys were susceptible to peer influence. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding autistic traits development and directions of support for children and adolescents in their peer context.
format	article
author	Gina Nenniger Verena Hofmann Christoph M. Müller
author_facet	Gina Nenniger Verena Hofmann Christoph M. Müller
author_sort	Gina Nenniger
title	Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports
title_short	Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports
title_full	Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports
title_fullStr	Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports
title_full_unstemmed	Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports
title_sort	gender differences in peer influence on autistic traits in special needs schools—evidence from staff reports
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cdc4c6ecac5d48e88bc9089108866f72
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Gender Differences in Peer Influence on Autistic Traits in Special Needs Schools—Evidence From Staff Reports

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