Sibling Bullying and Mental Health in British and Turkish Autistic Adolescents: The Role of Social and Emotional Functioning

Nearly one in two autistic adolescents is involved in sibling bullying, which is linked to increased mental health difficulties. Despite its high prevalence, only a handful of studies have focused on the relationship between sibling bullying and mental health in autistic adolescents. Of these, a vast majority of evidence comes from western cultures while little is known about non-western cultures. For the first time, the current study investigated the cross-cultural variability in the prevalence and demographic and mental health correlates of sibling bullying between a western (the United Kingdom) and non-western (Turkey) country. Parents of British (N=289) and Turkish (N=171) autistic adolescents, aged 9-20, years completed online questionnaires. Structural equation models were fitted to test the risk factors for and behavioural and mental health correlates of sibling bullying. Overall, sibling bullying was highly prevalent in the lives of both British and Turkish autistic adolescents as more than two-thirds either bullied a sibling or were bullied by a sibling every week. Consistent with previous reports, higher rates of sibling bullying were significantly correlated with poorer mental health in both British and Turkish autistic adolescents. Additionally, sibling bullying was indirectly linked to mental health difficulties through detrimental social behaviours (British and Turkish) and emotion regulation (British-only) in autistic adolescents. There were no indirect correlations between sibling bullying and mental health through social skills in either sample. Implications of these findings as well as cross-cultural similarities and differences are discussed in more detail in light of the relevant cross-cultural psychological theory.