Social competence with an unfamiliar peer in children and adolescents with high functioning autism: Measurement and individual differences

Abstract

Children and adolescents with high functioning autism (HFA) display heterogeneity in social competence, which may be particularly evident during interactions with unfamiliar peers. The goal of this study was to examine predictors of social competence variability during an unfamiliar peer interaction. Thirty-nine participants with HFA and 39 age-, gender- and IQ-matched comparison participants were observed during dyadic laboratory interactions and detailed behavioral coding revealed three social competence dimensions: social initiative, social reciprocity, and social self-monitoring. Participants with HFA displayed higher social initiative but lower reciprocity than comparison participants. For participants with HFA, theory of mind was positively associated with observed initiative. For COM participants, social anxiety was negatively associated with reciprocity. However, for HFA participants, there was a quadratic relation between parent-reported social anxiety and observed reciprocity, demonstrating that low and high levels of anxiety were associated with low reciprocity. Results demonstrated the utility of our behavioral coding scheme as a valid assessment of social competence for children and adolescents with and without HFA. The curvilinear association between social anxiety and reciprocity highlights the importance of examining nonlinear relations in individuals with HFA, and emphasizes that discrete profiles of social anxiety in individuals with HFA may necessitate different treatment options.

Supporting the Spectrum Hypothesis: Self-Reported Temperament in Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism

“…This may be indicative of the great heterogeneity of anxiety levels in children and adolescents with HFA: some may be characterized as extremely withdrawn and fearful, while others are described as approach-oriented and unafraid (Burnette et al, 2011; Wing & Gould, 1979). A recent study found that levels of social anxiety related to social skills in an interaction with a novel peer in a sample of children and adolescents with HFA, indicating the ecological importance of understanding the relationships between these constructs (Usher, Burrows, Schwartz, & Henderson, 2015). The wide heterogeneity in levels of Fear and Shyness may relate to adaptive functioning in real-world contexts with unfamiliar peers.…”

Metaperception in Adolescents With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…To reduce the number of variables in subsequent analyses, consistent with previous practices used in our laboratory (Usher et al 2015), inter-relations among observed behavioral codes were examined using Principal Component Analysis (PCA; Abdi and Williams 2010). Variables were entered into a PCA using a Varimax rotation and a two-factor solution was specified.…”

“…There is evidence that temperamental dimensions relating to social desirability and social motivation, such as affiliation, relate to behavior similarly for individuals with and without ASD (Burrows et al 2016). There was also a lack of information on co-occurring diagnoses of anxiety or depression, which could potentially impact adolescents' perceptions and metaperceptions (Pozo et al 1991), as well as their observed social behavior (Usher et al 2015). Examining these various potential sources of individual differences in metaperception abilities in both ASD and TD groups would strengthen future work in this area.…”

“…All participants were informed that they might feel uncomfortable meeting someone for the first time and that they could take a break or stop any part of the study. After consent/assent, each dyad was seated at a table together in a quiet observation room and told that they had 5 min to “get to know each other.” Previously developed coding schemes from our laboratory were adapted to quantify social competence during the video-recorded interaction (Usher et al 2015). Immediately following this five-minute task, each participant completed a questionnaire rating the social partner on several characteristics (perceptions) and how he/she believed the peer answered the same questions about him/herself (metaperceptions).…”

Social Phobia as a Predictor of Social Competence Perceived by Teenagers

“…In previous studies, it was determined that high level of social phobia (concern for being criticized) negatively affected life of individuals, and high level of perceived social competence created a positive effect upon individuals (Connolly, 1989;Baltacı & Hamarta, 2013;Erözkan, 2011;Márquez, Martín, & Brackett, 2006). Furthermore, because the individuals with high level of concern for being criticized as the most important indicator and sub-dimension of social phobia felt themselves under threat socially, they were noticed to have low competence perceptions related to coping with social problems (Usher, Burrows, Schwartz, & Henderson, 2015;Thomasson & Psouni, 2010).…”