Sexual, physical, and emotional aggression, experienced by autistic vs. non-autistic U.S. college students

Abstract

ObjectiveTo compare rates of aggression victimization for autistic vs. non-autistic U.S. college students. Participants: n = 1,411 autistic and n = 218,430 non-autistic students from 78 colleges. Methods: We used a three-way interaction term to examine moderation of the relationship between autism and sexual, physical and emotional aggression victimization by depression and sense of belonging. Results: Autistic students were nearly twice as likely as non-autistic students to report past-year emotional victimization (44% vs. 26%, p < 0.001), and more likely to report physical victimization (8.4% vs. 5.7%, p < 0.001). Autistic students who experienced sexual assault were 2.23 times more likely than non-autistic students to report it affected academic performance (80.4% vs. 36.0%, p < 0.001). At both low and high levels of depression, sense of belonging was protective against physical and sexual victimization for autistic students more than for non-autistic students. Conclusions: Institutions of higher education should prioritize preventing and responding to interpersonal aggression against autistic students.

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