title: Gender Differences in the Social Motivation and Friendship Experiences of Autistic and Non-autistic Adolescents.
abstract: This mixed-methods study examined gender differences in the social motivation and friendship experiences of adolescent boys and girls with autism relative to those without autism, all educated within special education settings. Autistic girls showed similar social motivation and friendship quality to non-autistic girls, while autistic boys reported having both qualitatively different friendships and less motivation for social contact relative to boys without autism and to girls with and without autism. Semi-structured interviews with the adolescents corroborated these findings, with one exception: autistic girls reported high levels of relational aggression within their friendships, suggesting that girls on the autism spectrum in particular may struggle with identifying and dealing with conflict in their social lives.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, UK.
authors.forename: Felicity
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sedgewick
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, UK.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, UK.
authors.forename: Rhiannon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, UK.
authors.forename: Leanne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pickering
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 55-59 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0NU, UK. l.pellicano@ucl.ac.uk.|School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. l.pellicano@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pellicano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000374:Aggression; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: Autism; Friendship; Gender; Girls; Peer relationships; Social motivation