Journal
AUTISM
Volume 17, Issue 4, Pages 481-500Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1362361311416380
Keywords
Autism spectrum disorder; friendships; parent and adolescent reports; activity patterns
Categories
Funding
- NICHD NIH HHS [R03 HD039185] Funding Source: Medline
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This study compared perceptions of adolescents' friendships between adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents, examined factors associated with friendship qualities, and investigated the adolescents' reports on the activities they did with friends and how activity patterns differed by gender. Ninety-one adolescents with an ASD and their parents completed mail-based surveys during the summer months. Adolescents with an ASD identified more friends than did their parents, but they agreed on the friends' characteristics. About half of the adolescents spent an average of 4 hours per day with friends during the summer months. Male adolescents with an ASD most frequently played video games with friends, whereas females most frequently had conversations with friends. The findings suggest that adolescents with an ASD and their parents identify different peers as the adolescent's friends. The findings also reveal similarities and differences in friendships between adolescents with an ASD and typically developing adolescents.
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