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Relations Between Nonverbal and Verbal Social Cognitive Skills and Complex Social Behavior in Children and Adolescents with Autism

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Abstract

Although there is an extensive literature on domains of social skill deficits in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), little research has examined the relation between specific social cognitive skills and complex social behaviors in daily functioning. This was the aim of the present study. Participants were 37 (26 male and 11 female) children and adolescents aged 6–18 years diagnosed with ASD. To determine the amount of variance in parent-rated complex social behavior accounted for by the linear combination of five directly-assessed social cognitive variables (i.e., adult and child facial and vocal affect recognition and social judgment) after controlling for general intellectual ability, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. The linear combination of variables accounted for 35.4 % of the variance in parent-rated complex social behavior. Vocal affect recognition in adult voices showed the strongest association with complex social behavior in ASD. Results suggest that assessment and training in vocal affective comprehension should be an important component of social skills interventions for individuals with ASD.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Institute of Health (grant number HD051747-01A1). Special thanks to our participants and their families, as well as Karen Cooper, Kait DePlonty, Lindsey Felix, Corlan Keller, Brandon Kopald, Danielle Rudder, and Mona Stepansky for their help in collection of data for this manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Carly Demopoulos

  2. Department of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology, 3102 South State Street, Suite 252, Chicago, IL, 60616-3793, USA

    Carly Demopoulos & Joyce Hopkins

  3. Mind Research Network, Pete & Nancy Domenici Hall, 1101 Yale Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106, USA

    Carly Demopoulos & Jeffrey D. Lewine

  4. Departments of Psychology and Neurology, University of New Mexico, 1 University Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87031, USA

    Jeffrey D. Lewine

  5. Lovelace Scientific Resources, 2425 Ridgecrest Dr., Albuquerque, SE, 87108, USA

    Jeffrey D. Lewine

  6. Biomagnetic Imaging Laboratory, Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S362, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0628, USA

    Carly Demopoulos

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  1. Carly Demopoulos
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Correspondence to Carly Demopoulos.

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Demopoulos, C., Hopkins, J. & Lewine, J.D. Relations Between Nonverbal and Verbal Social Cognitive Skills and Complex Social Behavior in Children and Adolescents with Autism. J Abnorm Child Psychol 44, 913–921 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0082-z

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