Social-ecological correlates of aggression in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Recent research has shown that aggression in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is linked with a wide array of individual and social system (i.e., family, peer, school) variables and is consistent with a social-ecological model of problem behavior. However, the relative contribution of these variables to aggression in this population has not been determined, nor is it clear which social-ecological variables are uniquely related to aggression in children versus adolescents with ASD. In addition, the links between certain social-ecological variables (e.g., sibling relations, the broader environment) and aggression in youths with ASD have not been explored. In the current study, 2,142 caregivers of a child or adolescent with ASD (ranging from 6-17 years of age) completed self-report and behavior rating inventories that assessed several individual (sleep quality, gastrointestinal symptoms, autism symptoms), family (caregiver stress and coping, family functioning, caregiver relationship satisfaction, sibling relations), peer (emotional bonding, social maturity), school (academic functioning), and neighborhood (perceived community safety) variables. Regression analyses revealed that aggression was related to multiple variables across different levels of the social ecology. In addition, moderation analyses showed that the linkages between social-ecological variables and aggression did not vary with age. These findings suggest that the determinants of aggression in children and adolescents are similar and include multiple variables in the immediate social environment.