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Reactions to Ostracism in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Conditions

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Abstract

Little is known about how adolescents with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) experience the initial impact of ostracism. This study investigated whether a mild, short-term episode of experimentally induced ostracism (Cyberball) would affect self-reported anxiety, mood, and the extent to which four social needs (self-esteem, belonging, control and meaningful existence) were threatened in adolescents with ASC and matched controls. Anxiety and the four needs were negatively affected by ostracism in both groups. However, ostracism did not modulate mood in the ASC group, and a number of possible interpretations of this group difference are discussed. In general, the results of this study suggest that normative models of ostracism are applicable to ASC.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Odette Megnin for recruiting participants for this study, and Kipling D. Williams for his advice on using the Cyberball paradigm. This research was supported by the Royal Society and the BBSRC. SJB is a Royal Society Research Fellow and CS has a BBSRC PhD studentship.

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Author notes

  1. Tony Charman

    Present address: Department of Psychology and Human Development, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK

    Catherine Sebastian & Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

  2. UCL Institute of Child Health, Guilford Street, London, WC1N 3EH, UK

    Tony Charman

Authors
  1. Catherine Sebastian
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  2. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
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  3. Tony Charman
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Correspondence to Catherine Sebastian.

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Sebastian, C., Blakemore, SJ. & Charman, T. Reactions to Ostracism in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Conditions. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 1122–1130 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0725-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0725-4

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