Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41689701›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

Autism as a Predictor of Deviant Peer Association: Testing for Dual Systems Model Mediation Effects.

Thomas Wojciechowski

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Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Thomas WojciechowskiMichigan State University School of Criminal Justice, East Lansing, USA. wojcie42@msu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5439-1399

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeDeviant peer association is a robust risk factor for offending, that is, any behavior that violates a criminal law. This can include behaviors like drug use, violence, and theft; among others. Autism is a neurodivergent condition characterized by both atypical cognitive development and challenges with social interaction and communication. Despite these impairments, there is a dearth of research focused on the relationship between autism and deviant peer association. Relatedly, there exists no research examining the role that dual systems model constructs (sensation-seeking and impulse control) as mediators of this relationship. This study sought to address these gaps in the literature by examining autism as a predictor of deviant peer association in childhood and whether either or both impulse control or sensation-seeking significantly mediate this relationship. MATERIALS: Waves 1, 3, and 4 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study were analyzed. Structural equation modeling was used to examine these direct and indirect relationships of interest.

resultsResults indicated that autism was associated with lower deviant peer association scores. Lower sensation-seeking scores among youth with autism significantly mediated this relationship, but impulse control did not.

conclusionAutism may be a protective factor against deviant peer association due to diminished sensation-seeking relative to neurotypical peers. Future research should take a developmental perspective on these relationships to examine whether they are consistent at later stages of the life-course.

Indexed as

Autism spectrum disorderDeviant Peer AssociationDual systems modelMediation

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.