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Understanding Friendship Sex Heterophily and Relational Characteristics to Optimize the Selection of Peer Models for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

  • S.I. : Gender and Autism
  • Published:
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Abstract

This study used social network analysis to evaluate whether sex heterophily, the degree to which peers are different in sex, between 126 children with autism (ages 5–12 years) and their peers affected social network connectivity. Results indicate that: (1) the quantity and sex of friends were more important in predicting social network connectivity than the relational characteristics of the friends (friendship nominations and social network salience/popularity); and (2) sex heterophily is an important factor in predicting social network connectivity. For males with autism, having friends of the same sex was associated with better social network connectivity; this was not true for females with autism. These findings have important implications for the selection of peer models for elementary-aged children with autism.

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Acknowledgments

The information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S Government. We thank the children, parents, and schools who participated and the research associates who contributed countless hours of assessments and data collection.

Funding

This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UA3MC11055, clinical trials number NCT00095420 titled “Autism Intervention Research Network in Behavioral Health” awarded to the last author. This study also was supported by an Autism Science Foundation (Grant # 13-ECA-01L), FARFund Early Career Award, and NIMH K01MH100199 awarded to the first author as well as the National Institute of Health (NIH) –NIMH R03MH106922 and NIA K25AG051782 awarded to the second author. The second author holds a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from BWF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington, Seattle, USA

    Jill Locke & Lindsay Frederick

  2. University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA

    Ariana Anderson & Connie Kasari

  3. Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Box 354875, 1417 NE 42nd St., Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Jill Locke & Lindsay Frederick

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  1. Jill Locke
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  4. Connie Kasari
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Contributions

JL generated the idea, was the primary writer of the manuscript, and approved all changes. AA supported the data analysis and writing of the manuscript. LF provided input around the interpretation of results and supported the writing of this manuscript. CK supported all study activities and interpretation of the results. All authors were involved in developing, editing, reviewing, and providing feedback for this manuscript and have given approval of the final version to be published.

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Correspondence to Jill Locke.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Locke, J., Anderson, A., Frederick, L. et al. Understanding Friendship Sex Heterophily and Relational Characteristics to Optimize the Selection of Peer Models for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 4010–4018 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3662-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3662-2

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