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Self Representation in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders

Child Psychiatry & Human Development volume 43, pages 227–237 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

In order to examine the roles of mental age, social interaction, and communication in self-representation abilities, typically-developing children were compared with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Typically-developing children (TD, n = 66) and children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD, n = 20), including subgroups of autistic disorder and pervasive developmental disorder—not otherwise specified, were assessed on self-representation ability, which was measured by mirror recognition, other-directed pretend play, and use of personal pronouns. More TD children (100%) showed mirror recognition than ASD children (55%). TD children were more likely to show other-directed pretense (80%) than the ASD group (35%). Personal pronouns were used more by TD children (83%) than by ASD children (63%). Self-representation ability appears to be underdeveloped in some children with ASD. Self-representation ability in children with ASD was related to the Social Interaction subscale of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule such that greater self representation ability was associated with better Social Interaction scores, although it was not related to the Communication scores of the ADOS-G. The mental age of the children with ASD was at least 2 years; therefore, the deficits in self representation in children with ASD cannot be explained by mental age alone.

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Notes

  1. Given that the proportion of males and females differed between the TD group (50% female) and the ASD group 15% female), a comparison of males only was performed. The ANOVA was significant, F (1, 48) = 17.86, P < .001, eta-squared = .27, with higher scores for the TD males (M = 2.64, SE = 0.137, 95% CI = 2.36, 2.91) than for the ASD males (M = 1.65, SE = 0.190, 95% CI = 1.26, 2.03).

  2. Given the gender differences in the proportion of males and females between the groups, a comparison of only males in the TD and ASD groups showed the same effects as seen when the group comparisons included female participants.

  3. While the same results were obtained using hierarchical logistic regression analyses, we have not reported them here due to the concern for the small sample size.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from The Governor’s Council for Medical Research and Treatment of Autism. The authors do not have any conflicts of interest related to this project.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute for the Study of Child Development, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    Dennis P. Carmody & Michael Lewis

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  1. Dennis P. Carmody
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  2. Michael Lewis
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Correspondence to Dennis P. Carmody.

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Carmody, D.P., Lewis, M. Self Representation in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 43, 227–237 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0261-2

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Keywords

  • Self-representation
  • Mirror recognition
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Social cognition
  • Autism diagnostic observation schedule