The Social Referencing Observation Scale (SoROS) for children: Scale development and reliability

Abstract

The Social Referencing Observational Scale (SoROS) is being developed to measure and detect deficits in social referencing skills in children between 2.6 and 5.0 years of age. This study is the first in the sequence, describing the first phases of development. First, three different scenarios designed to evoke social referencing behaviors were selected. We called the scenarios Fear, Pain, and Joy. In the pilot study, social referencing in 60 typical children was scored. Based on the data from the pilot study, the scoring system was refined and another 204 children were tested. We report descriptive data on social referencing in typical children across age and gender. Our main finding was that all children showed social referencing in that they first looked for cues in another person as for how to behave, and second behaved accordingly. This was the case across all three tested scenarios. Inter‐rater reliability for individual scoring behaviors in all three scenarios was good to high. The descriptive data for how typical children behave in these scenarios can provide the basis for detecting deficits in social referencing and for planning interventions.

The development and validation of The Social Referencing Observation Scale as a screening instrument for autism spectrum disorder

“…The SoROS is a systematic behavioral assessment, based on direct observations during three scenarios, where the child observes three emotional expressions (i.e., fear, pain, and joy) presented by the administrator. The three scenarios are a continuation of Sigman's (1988) In a previous study, we assessed TD children aged between 2.6 and 5 years (Lubomirska et al, 2021). We found that the behaviors most frequently exhibited by TD children were looking at the administrator when the administrator expressed fear, pain, or joy, and, subsequently, taking some action with the materials.…”

“…In a previous study, we assessed TD children aged between 2.6 and 5 years (Lubomirska et al., 2021). We found that the behaviors most frequently exhibited by TD children were looking at the administrator when the administrator expressed fear, pain, or joy, and, subsequently, taking some action with the materials.…”

“…The Social Referencing Observation Scale (SoROS; Lubomirska et al., 2021) is a behavior observation checklist developed to detect deficits in social referencing behavior in children aged between 2.6 and 5 years. The SoROS is a systematic behavioral assessment, based on direct observations during three scenarios, where the child observes three emotional expressions (i.e., fear, pain, and joy) presented by the administrator.…”

“…The pattern observed in TD children was that when faced with a novel and ambiguous situation, that is, the administrator expressing fear, pain, or joy, they looked at the administrator, which was a stimulus for the administrator to explain the situation to the child and encourage him to engage in the activity. This in turn was a stimulus for the child to take some action with the materials (Lubomirska et al., 2021). This pattern of responding was observed in almost all TD children regardless of age and gender, suggesting that social referencing behavior is a rather stable phenomenon in preschool children.…”

“…Since no significant differences between age cohorts (2.6–3.0; 3.0–3.6; 3.6–4.0; 4.0–4.6; 4.6–5.0) were detected in the population of TD children (Lubomirska et al., 2021), we decided to evaluate the children with ASD aged between 2.6 and 5 years as one group instead of dividing them into separate age cohorts.…”