This study aims to evaluate the relationship between social skills and sensory features, emotion regulation, and empathy in adolescents on the autism spectrum. One hundred and twenty-three adolescents were included in the study (50 autistic, 73 typically developing-TD adolescents). The participants filled out the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile…

Camouflaging is a strategy adopted by neurodivergent individuals to cope in neurotypical social contexts, likely related to perceived stress. Despite increasing research in autistic adults, studies of camouflaging in adolescents remain sparse. The self-reported Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire has been validated in adults in some Western…

Autistic youth often experience challenges in interactions with neurotypical peers. One factor that may influence successful interactions with peers is interpersonal synchrony, or the degree to which interacting individuals align their behaviors (e.g. facial expressions) over time. Autistic and neurotypical youth were paired together into three…

The pervasiveness of social media in adolescents' lives has important implications for their relationships. Considering today's adolescents have grown up with social media, research capturing their unique perspectives of how social media impacts their relationships is needed to increase understanding and help guide behaviors that nurture…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) impacts approximately 1 in 44 children in the United States. Common characteristics of ASD are marked deficits in communication and social connectedness. As autistic children approach adolescence, there is a lack of interventions available to them. Mentoring can provide adolescents with a relationship that…

Studies employing multiple-schedule arrangements to bring social approaches (e.g., requesting attention, raising hand) under stimulus control have commonly used correlated contrived, continuous stimuli with at least one condition (e.g., displaying a green stimulus when attention is available and a red stimulus when it is not). Although imposing…

While considerable research in education has established objective and subjective status differences between tracks and focused on the outcomes of ability grouping on students' educational and broader outcomes, there is virtually no research that explains students' variability in track valuation. This study relies on theoretical insights from…

Social camouflaging in autism involves hiding social differences and autistic traits to fit in with neurotypical settings and is associated with poorer mental health in both autistic adolescents and adults. This study explored the association between self-reported social camouflaging behaviours and adolescents' self-report of generalised anxiety…

Adolescent girls face increased pressure to conform to societal standards. As social beings, adolescent girls gravitate to social media as an outlet for peer interaction, community, and validation. Research has found that at the critical age of adolescence, 12-18, girls experience appearance comparison on social media, which can lead to…

Defending peers who have been bullied is often thought to put defenders at risk of becoming victimized themselves. The study investigated the concurrent and prospective associations between defending and (peer- and self-reported) victimization, and examined popularity and classroom norms as potential moderators. Participants included 4085 Finnish…

Loneliness becomes more prevalent as youth transition from childhood into adolescence. A key underlying process may be the puberty-related increase in biological stress reactivity, which can alter social behavior and elicit conflict or social withdrawal (fight-or-flight behaviors) in some youth, but increase prosocial (tend-and-befriend) responses…

While intergroup contacts and social norms both have important roles in regulating intergroup relations, their effects on intergroup outcomes have mostly been examined independently from each other. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to explore the role of perceived ingroup norms about intergroup contact in the relationships between both…

Honor refers to socially conferred self-worth, strong norms of reciprocity, and direct retaliation for transgressions. Honor norms have been discussed as relevant in explaining aggressive behavior, particularly for immigrant groups. In this study we examined the endorsement of honor norms and their association with aggressive behavior in a…

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a worldwide transition to providing online services overnight, highlighting the urgent need for empirically supported telehealth interventions. The current study examined the effects of PEERS® for Adolescents Telehealth, an adaptation from the original social skills intervention developed for in-person provision,…

Background: Social abilities include interpersonal skills, interaction, and social responsibility. The nature of these abilities has not been explored in young people with Down syndrome (DS) during the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The aim of this online study was to describe the social profile of a group of 30 Mexican people…