A psychometric evaluation of the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS) for young adults.

The current study contributes to previous work on measuring the social phenotype in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by validating a multidimensional test of social competence developed for use with individuals with and without ASD. The "Multidimensional Social Competence Scale" (MSCS) was previously validated as a parent-rating scale with youth 11-18 years with ASD without intellectual disability and typically developing adolescents of comparable age. The current study presents a validation of a self-report version of the MSCS in a non-clinical young adult population (N = 1178, males = 360, females = 817, age range = 17-25 years). The MSCS consists of seven domains that represent social competence: social motivation, social inferencing, demonstrating empathic concern, social knowledge, verbal conversation skills, nonverbal sending skills, and emotion regulation. These domains are theorized to be indicative of the higher-order construct of social competence. A second higher-order theorization of the MSCS structure posits that 3 of these factors are indicative of social responsiveness, and the remaining 4 factors are indicative of social understanding and emotion regulation. Our findings indicated support for each of the theorized multidimensional factor structures. Reliability, optimal scoring, convergent and discriminant validity of the measure, as well as implications for future research are discussed.

The development of the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale: a standardized measure of social competence in autism spectrum disorders.

Autism and its related disorders are commonly described as lying along a continuum that ranges in severity and are collectively referred to as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Although all individuals with ASD meet the social impairment diagnostic criteria outlined in the DSM-IV-TR, they do not present with the same social difficulties. The variability in the expression and severity of social competence is particularly evident among the group of individuals with "high-functioning" ASD who appear to have difficulty applying their average to above average intelligence in a social context. There is a striking paucity of empirical research investigating individual differences in social functioning among individuals with high-functioning ASD. It is possible that more detailed investigations of social competence have been impeded by the lack of standardized measures available to assess the nature and severity of social impairment. The aim of the current study was to develop and evaluate a parent rating scale capable of assessing individual differences in social competence (i.e. strengths and challenges) among adolescents with ASD: the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS). Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized multidimensional factor structure of the MSCS. Seven relatively distinct domains of social competence were identified including social motivation, social inferencing, demonstrating empathic concern, social knowledge, verbal conversation skills, nonverbal sending skills, and emotion regulation. Psychometric evidence provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the scale. Possible applications of this promising new parent rating scale in both research and clinical settings are discussed.

Visual influences on speech perception in children with autism.

The bimodal perception of speech sounds was examined in children with autism as compared to mental age-matched typically developing (TD) children. A computer task was employed wherein only the mouth region of the face was displayed and children reported what they heard or saw when presented with consonant-vowel sounds in unimodal auditory condition, unimodal visual condition, and a bimodal condition. Children with autism showed less visual influence and more auditory influence on their bimodal speech perception as compared to their TD peers, largely due to significantly worse performance in the unimodal visual condition (lip reading). Children with autism may not benefit to the same extent as TD children from visual cues such as lip reading that typically support the processing of speech sounds. The disadvantage in lip reading may be detrimental when auditory input is degraded, for example in school settings, whereby speakers are communicating in frequently noisy environments.

Self-reported cognitive and everyday functioning in persons with psychosis: the Patient Perception of Functioning Scale.

UNLABELLED: This study examined the reliability and validity of a brief, face-valid self-report measure designed to assess subjective judgments of functioning. The Patient Perception of Functioning Scale (PPFS) is a 6-item scale with ratings for both community functioning and cognition. METHOD: Sixty-eight subjects with psychotic disorders were recruited to complete the PPFS on 2 occasions and to complete a battery of neurocognitive tests. Objective ratings of overall illness severity (Clinical Global Impression), illness severity (Global Assessment of Functioning), and functioning (Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale and Role Functioning Scale) were also obtained. RESULTS: The internal consistency and test-retest correlation coefficients revealed that the PPFS possesses good reliability characteristics. The PPFS did not show relationships to demographic, historical, or illness-related variables such as diagnosis or length of illness. The PPFS did show significant associations with several dimensions of community functioning. However, no significant associations were found with neurocognitive measures or clinical status. CONCLUSIONS: In populations with psychotic disorders, self-reported ratings of community function and cognition may converge less with objective cognitive measures than with objective ratings of everyday functioning. Several factors inherent to self-report methodology may have contributed to the poor convergent validity results. Theoretical underpinnings and operationalization of the underlying constructs of some neuropsychological instruments may not closely match how patients conceptualize those constructs.

What gene-environment interactions can tell us about social competence in typical and atypical populations.

Social competence is a complex human behaviour that is likely to involve a system of genes that interacts with a myriad of environmental risk and protective factors. The search for its genetic and environmental origins and influences is equally complex and will require a multidimensional conceptualization and multiple methods and levels of analysis. Behavioural genetic research can begin to address the fundamental yet complex question of how children develop social competence by uncovering the various influences on social development and disentangling variance due to multiple genes, environments and experiences. In this paper, we review the current status of research on sociability, face recognition, emotion recognition, and theory of mind (TOM)--well defined and measured constructs that are likely to be useful indices for detecting genetic and environmental influences on social competence. We also propose specific milestones as indices of further progress in the field: the development of an operational definition of the construct of social competence, the identification of social endophenotypes-psychological processes that are validly and reliably measured components of social competence, and improving specificity and homogeneity with regard to social endophenotypes within a population of study by employing 'extreme social phenotypes'. These efforts will lead to a better understanding of the specific contributions to the normal variation of social competence in the general population as well as to atypical social development.

Untangling social function and social cognition: a review of concepts and measurement.

Over the past few decades, there has been increasing interest in the study of social impairment in schizophrenia. However, the concept of social functioning has been poorly defined in the literature. This article highlights the global and multi-factorial nature of social functioning and reviews the theoretical determinants of social dysfunction in schizophrenia. Emphasis is placed on outlining the social cognitive deficits that may occur. The study of social cognition appears particularly promising in elucidating our understanding of the development of social impairment in schizophrenia and has the potential to improve current psychosocial interventions. However, continued advances depend upon the existence of reliable and well-validated measures of social functioning and social cognition. A selection of measures are reviewed in this article in an attempt to highlight the importance of assessing multiple aspects of social functioning in schizophrenia and to assist researchers in the selection of appropriate measures. Future efforts should be directed towards the continued validation of social functioning and social cognitive measures and their adaptation for use in at-risk and early psychosis populations.