Perceptions of Social Functioning in Young Children with ASD: Comparing Parent and Teacher Reports

1. Perceptions of Social Functioning in Young Children with ASD: Comparing Parent and Teacher Reports Michelle B. Jackson, M.A.1, Maile A. Horn, M.A.1, andElizabeth A. Laugeson, Psy.D.2 1The Help Group – UCLA Autism Research Alliance, 2UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior BACKGROUND METHODS DISCUSSION • PROCEDURES • Raters completed the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) to assess perceptions of children’s psychosocial functioning. • Bivariate correlations were done on parent-reports and teacher-reports for the SRS and SSRS. • Partial correlations were done as well, in order to control for potentially extraneous variables. • Research has investigated differences between parent-reports and self-reports of social functioning for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). • Less is known about the specific relationship between parent-reports and teacher-reports of social functioning among children with ASD (Murray, Ruble, Willis, & Molloy, 2009). • Among the limited research that has been done in this area, studies primarily focus on older children (Constantino et al., 2003; White, Koenig, & Scahill, 2007). • Because practitioners tends to use a multi-informant approach when assessing young children with ASD (Lecavalier et al., 2004; Jones & Frederickson, 2010), research examining differences between parent- and teacher-reports of social functioning for younger children represent a gap in the literature and should be more widely investigated. • The finding that parent-reports and teacher-reports on the SRS were only significantly correlated because of their reports of Autistic Mannerisms suggests that teachers and parents are in agreement on areas of functioning that are more outwardly apparent and quantifiable. The agreement between parents and teachers when specifically assessing Assertion on the SSRS, another more easily observable area of functioning, supports this conclusion. Nevertheless, teachers and parents do not appear to be in accordance when assessing areas of social functioning that are more internal and not as easily perceptible, as evidenced by lower teacher-reports of Self-Control on the SSRS in comparison to parent-reports . • Assuming these findings are accurate representations of children’s social behavior in different contexts, results suggest that certain social behaviors are context-dependent. Consequently, interventions targeting better communication about social functioning between parents and teachers of preschool-aged children with ASD would be advantageous. • In addition to implementing these interventions, future studies should seek to replicate these results with larger samples. Future research may also contribute to our better understanding of perceptions of social functioning in young children with ASD by adding qualitative data to assist in further clarifying reasons for parent-teacher differences. RESULTS Table 1. Pearson Correlations of Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Overall Social Responsiveness on the SRS OBJECTIVES • This study examines both the differences and similarities in perceptions of social functioning among teachers and parents of preschool-aged children with ASD. • The relationship between parent-reports and teacher-reports of social functioning on two standardized measures were investigated. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the families and teachers for their participation in this study. We are grateful for their generous support of this project. For more information, please contact: Michelle Jackson, M.A. alliance@thehelpgroup.org or (818) 778-7133 CONTACT INFORMATION METHODS * p < .05 Table 2. Pearson Correlations of Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Assertion on the SSRS • PARTICIPANTS • Parents and teachers of 11 preschool children participated in the study • Children were all previously diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder • Children were 3 to 5 years of age (M = 4.14 years; SD = .66) • Gender: 18% Female (n=2); 82% Male (n=9) • Ethnicity: 46% Hispanic (n=5); 27% Multi-Ethnic (n=3); 18% Caucasian • (n=2); 9% Asian (n=1) • Children were students at the Young Learner’s Preschool at The Help Group in Sherman Oaks, CA MEASURES • PARENT MEASURES: • Demographic questionnaire • Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-P: Constantino & Gruber, 2005) • Parent Form • Social Skills Rating System (SSRS-P: Gresham & Elliott, 1990) • Parent Form • TEACHER MEASURES: • Demographic questionnaire • Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-T: Constantino & Gruber, 2005) • Teacher Form • Social Skills Rating System (SSRS-T: Gresham & Elliott, 1990) • Teacher Form REFERENCES Constantino, J.N., Davis, S.A., Todd, R.D., Schindler, M.K., Gross, M.M., Brophy, S.L., Metzger, L.M., Shoushtari, C.S., & Reich, W. (2003). Validation of a brief quantitative measure of autistic traits: Comparison of the Social Responsiveness Scale with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(4), 427-433. Constantino, J.N., & Gruber, C.P. (2005). The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) Manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services. Gresham, F.M., & Elliot, S. (1990). The Social Skils Rating System. MN: American Guidance Service. Jones, A.P., & Frederickson, N. (2010). Multi-informant predictors of social inclusion for students with autism spectrum disorders attending mainstream school. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(9), 1094-1103. Lecavalier, L., Aman, M.G., Hammer, D., Stoica, W., & Matthews, G. (2004). Factor analysis of the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 709-721. Murray, D.S., Ruble, L.A., Willis, H., & Molloy, C.A. (2009). Parent and teacher report of social skills in children with autism spectrum disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 40(2), 119-115. White, S.W., Keonig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1858-1868. • * p < .05 • Results reveal that parent-reports of overall social responsiveness were significantly correlated with teacher-reports of social responsiveness on the SRS (r=.715, p=.013). [See Table 1] • • This correlation was no longer statistically significant when controlling for parent-reports and teacher-reports of Autistic Mannerisms on the SRS (p=.323). • Parent-reports did not significantly correlate with teacher-reports of overall social skills on the SSRS (r=.489, p=.127), due to lower reports of Self-Control (p=.036) by parents. • • Inter-item correlations showed that parent-reports and teacher-reports of Assertion on the SSRS did significantly correlate with one another (r=.685, p=.020). [See Table 2]