The University of Texas at Dallas, USA.
Autism. 2013 Nov;17(6):655-67. doi: 10.1177/1362361312455704. Epub 2012 Sep 17.
Social-cognitive deficits differentiate parents with the "broad autism phenotype" from non-broad autism phenotype parents more robustly than other neuropsychological features of autism, suggesting that this domain may be particularly informative for identifying genetic and brain processes associated with the phenotype. The current study examined whether the social-cognitive deficits associated with the broad autism phenotype extend to the general population and relate to reduced social skill. A total of 74 undergraduates completed the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire, three standardized social-cognitive tasks, and a live social interaction with an unfamiliar research assistant. Social broad autism phenotype traits were significantly associated with deficits in social cognition and reduced social skill. In addition, the relationship between social broad autism phenotype traits and social skill was partially mediated by social cognition, suggesting that the reduced interpersonal ability associated with the broad autism phenotype occurs in part because of poorer social-cognitive ability. Together, these findings indicate that the impairments in social cognition and social skill that characterize autism spectrum disorder extend in milder forms to the broad autism phenotype in the general population and suggest a framework for understanding how social broad autism phenotype traits may manifest in diminished social ability.
社交认知缺陷将具有“广泛自闭症表型”的父母与非广泛自闭症表型的父母区分开来的效果比自闭症的其他神经心理学特征更为显著，这表明该领域可能特别有助于确定与表型相关的遗传和大脑过程。本研究考察了与广泛自闭症表型相关的社交认知缺陷是否扩展到普通人群，并与社交技能下降有关。共有 74 名本科生完成了广泛自闭症表型问卷、三项标准化社交认知任务以及与不熟悉的研究助理进行的现场社交互动。广泛自闭症表型特征与社交认知缺陷和社交技能下降显著相关。此外，社交广泛自闭症表型特征与社交技能之间的关系部分由社交认知介导，这表明与广泛自闭症表型相关的人际交往能力下降部分是由于社交认知能力较差所致。综上所述，这些发现表明，自闭症谱系障碍的社交认知和社交技能缺陷以较轻的形式扩展到普通人群中的广泛自闭症表型，并为理解广泛自闭症表型特征如何表现为社交能力下降提供了框架。
