Educational issues, Vol. 5 No. 2, 2022.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.53577/oot.5.2.7
Aggressive behaviour in children with autism
Ana Lukić
orcid.org/0000-0002-0662-4856
; Fakultet za specijalnu edukaciju i rehabilitaciju, Sveučilište u Beogradu, Srbija
Bojana Arsić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6728-3779
; Fakultet za specijalnu edukaciju i rehabilitaciju, Sveučilište u Beogradu, Srbija
Anja Gajić
; Fakultet za specijalnu edukaciju i rehabilitaciju, Sveučilište u Beogradu, Srbija
Abstract
The aim of this research was to examine characteristics and predictors of aggressive
behaviour in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), as well as to determine the presence
of aggressive behaviour exhibited by children with ASD. The sample included 43 participants
diagnosed with ASD. The instrument used was the Behaviour Problems Inventory - BPI-01
(Rojahn et al., 2002), aggression subscale. Our findings indicate that the children with ASD from
our sample exhibit low rates of aggressive behaviour. Among those participants who do exhibit
aggression towards others, the most prevalent forms of aggression were verbal aggression,
grabbing and pulling others, cruelty and property destruction. Gender and the type of school the
participants attended were not predictors of aggressive behaviours, while aggressive behaviour
can be predicted by the child’s functionality level, where participants with low functioning ASD
exhibit more aggressive behaviours in comparison with participants with high functioning ASD.
Also, aggressive behaviour can be predicted by age, where increase in chronological age is
negatively correlated with aggression. It is crucial that special educators address the aggressive
behaviour exhibited by children with ASD from an early age. Even though it is important to know
the topographies of aggression among children with ASD, which were presented in our findings,
it is more important to examine the most common functions of aggression, or the reasons why the
children with ASD exhibit these behaviours.
Keywords
aggression; autism spectrum disorder; problem behaviour; topography
Hrčak ID:
288305
URI
Publication date:
4.12.2022.
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