Relationship between development of social skill and executive function and theory of mind in children and adolescents with autism / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the relationship between development of social skills and executive function and theory of mind in children and adolescents with autism.Methods:Forty-six children and adolescents with autism aged 6 to 17 years were recruited.The diagnosis was made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder,Fourth Edition(DSM-Ⅳ),and severe mental disorders were excluded by the screening of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age children (K-SADS).The Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT),Trail-Making Test,Verbal Fluency Test,Stroop Color-word Task,the First-Order Belief Test and the Second-Order Belief Test were used to assess executive function and theory of mind,and Social Response Scale (SRS) was used to assess social skills.The correlation between results of Executive Function and SRS was analyzed.The SRS scores between groups passing and without passing of First-Order Belief Test and Second-Order Belief were compared.Results:In the aspect of Executive Function,RCFT scores were positively correlated with autistic behavior factor score of SRS (r =0.31-0.41,Ps ＜ 0.05),meanwhile,immediate recall structure scores of RCFT were positively correlated with social motivation factor scores of SRS (r =0.30,P ＜ 0.05),delayed recall structure scores of RCFT were positively correlated with SRS total scores(r =0.34,P ＜ 0.05).In Stroop Colorword Task,errors of the first task were positively correlated with social cognitive factor scores of SRS (r =0.32,P ＜ 0.05).There were no correlation between other Executive Function results and SRS scores (r =-0.21-0.24,Ps ≥0.05).In the aspect of Theory of Mind,there was no significant difference in SRS scores between groups passing or without passing (t =-0.68-1.73,Ps ≥ 0.05).Conclusion:The development of social skill in children and adolescents with autism may have relationship withexecutive function,but have no relationship with the theory of mind.