Peer-reviewed article
Poor motor skills in childhood predict bully victimization across the lifespan: A study of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Glans M ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined 182 adults with autism spectrum disorder to understand whether poor motor skills in childhood predict being bullied throughout life. Adults who reported poor physical education performance at age 12 were significantly more likely to report bullying victimization across all life stages, from nursery school through working life. The association remained strong even after accounting for academic skills and sex. The findings suggest that childhood motor difficulties may increase vulnerability to peer bullying that persists into adulthood.
Key points
- 72% of adults with poor childhood motor skills reported bullying in nursery school, compared to 28% without poor motor skills
- Poor motor skills were associated with higher bullying victimization at all measured life stages: nursery school, ages 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, and working life
- The effect sizes ranged from 36-46 percentage point differences between those with and without poor motor skills across different ages
- Associations between poor motor skills and bullying remained statistically significant after adjusting for academic skills and sex
- The sample was 48% female with a mean age of 33 years
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study relying on adults' retrospective recall of childhood motor skills and bullying experiences, which may be subject to memory bias and inaccuracy. The study cannot establish causation or rule out that poor motor skills and bullying vulnerability share a common underlying cause in autism, rather than motor skills directly causing bullying.
Abstract
Introduction Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are frequently clumsy and are more likely to be bullied compared to typically developing peers. The link between motor skills and bully victimization is poorly understood. Objectives The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of poor motor skills in childhood on bully victimization from early life to adulthood in those with ASD. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 182 adults diagnosed with ASD completed a questionnaire on their recollection of bully victimization at different stages of life and their performance in physical education (PE), as a proxy for motor skills, and academic skills at age 12. Prevalence rates of bully victimization (defined as bullied ≥twice monthly) were compared at different time periods between those with- and without a memory of poor motor skills by chi-square tests. Moreover, logistic regression evaluated the associations while adjusting for candidate covariates sex and academic skills. Results Out of the total sample of 182 adults (mean age=33 years, 48% female), 50% reported below average performance in PE. Prevalence rates of bully victimization were more common in those categorized as having poor motor skills as compared to those without poor motor skills in all measured time periods; 72% vs 28% p=.001 in nursery school, 69% vs 31%, p>.001 at 7-9 years, 61% vs 39%, p=.001 at 10-12 years, 64% vs 36%, p>.001 at 13-15 years, 73% vs 27%, p=.005 at 16-18 years and 73% vs 27%, p=.009 in working life. The statistically significant associations seen in the prevalence comparisons remained in the logistic regression models. Conclusions The present study adds to the small, but growing, body of literature supporting an association between poor motor skills and bully victimization amongst children and adolescents with ASD. Moreover, we showed that the effect of childhood clumsiness on bully victimization continues into adulthood. Possibly, poor motor skills and social deficits share the same biological pathways and contribute to the risk of being perceived as “different”, and consequently bullied, by peers. Disclosure of Interest None Declared
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- None; this is an observational study examining the association between childhood motor skills and bullying victimization
- Population
- 182 adults with diagnosed autism spectrum disorder (mean age 33 years, 48% female)
Key finding
Poor motor skills associated with 72% bullying prevalence in nursery school vs 28% without poor motor skills (p=0.001)