Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, California.
Autism Res. 2013 Oct;6(5):443-53. doi: 10.1002/aur.1308. Epub 2013 Jul 10.
Research indicates a positive relation between the sibling constellation and theory of mind (ToM) development in typically developing (TD) children. Less is known about this association in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study examined the association among the presence and number of siblings, birth order, and false belief (FB) understanding in children with ASD and a TD comparison group. Two FB tasks (change of contents and change of location) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test were administered to 57 children with ASD and 28 TD children during a home visit. One parent of each child reported on demographics and the sibling constellation. Separate hierarchical regressions controlled for age, receptive language ability, and scores on the Social Communication Questionnaire. In children with ASD, no association was observed between presence or number of siblings and ToM. However, the presence of older (but not younger) siblings was found to be positively associated with ToM. Children with ASD who had at least one older sibling performed similarly to the TD group, whereas children with ASD who had no older siblings performed significantly worse than the TD group. These findings indicate an advantage for FB performance in children with ASD who have an older sibling. They may bear on decisions to include older siblings or peers in intervention programs and may also contribute to a more complete understanding of the origins of individual differences in ToM ability in children with ASD.
研究表明，在典型发育（TD）儿童中，兄弟姐妹结构与心理理论（ToM）发展之间存在正相关。在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童中，对这种关联的了解较少。本研究考察了 ASD 儿童和 TD 对照组中兄弟姐妹的存在和数量、出生顺序以及错误信念（FB）理解之间的关系。在一次家访中，对 57 名 ASD 儿童和 28 名 TD 儿童进行了两项 FB 任务（内容变化和位置变化）和 Peabody 图片词汇测验。每个孩子的一位家长报告了人口统计学和兄弟姐妹结构的情况。分别进行分层回归，控制年龄、接受性语言能力和社交沟通问卷的分数。在 ASD 儿童中，兄弟姐妹的存在或数量与 ToM 之间没有关联。然而，发现年长（但不是年幼）兄弟姐妹的存在与 ToM 呈正相关。至少有一个年长兄弟姐妹的 ASD 儿童的 FB 表现与 TD 组相似，而没有年长兄弟姐妹的 ASD 儿童的 FB 表现明显比 TD 组差。这些发现表明，在有年长兄弟姐妹的 ASD 儿童中，FB 表现具有优势。它们可能影响在干预计划中包括年长兄弟姐妹或同伴的决策，也可能有助于更全面地了解 ASD 儿童中 ToM 能力个体差异的起源。
