Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, Italy.
Department of Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Autism Res. 2021 May;14(5):932-945. doi: 10.1002/aur.2423. Epub 2020 Oct 27.
Pragmatic language (PL) is defined as the ability to use language effectively in communicative exchanges. Previous findings showed that deficits in PL are a core characteristic of the communicative profile of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While different lines of research have revealed a close link between PL and theory of mind (ToM), and between PL and executive functions (EFs), to our knowledge, few studies have explored the relationship between these three domains in children with ASD, and their results have been contradictory. The present study thus aimed to contribute to our understanding of PL in children with ASD and to analyze the underlying mediating role of ToM and EFs. PL is a complex and multifaceted construct. In the present study, we focused on two specific aspects, such as the comprehension of nonliteral language, and the ability to make inferences. After testing 143 participants (73 with ASD), our results confirmed that impairments in PL are a crucial feature of the ASD profile. Children with ASD were also more impaired than their typically developing peers in both ToM and EFs. When the mediating role of ToM and EFs on PL was considered, it emerged that only ToM contributed significantly to the relationship between group and PL. We discussed the potential importance of interventions not focused exclusively on PL, but also involving ToM. LAY SUMMARY: In everyday life, we use pragmatic language to interact successfully with others. Individuals with autism experience significant difficulty in pragmatic language, showing consequent impairments in communication. This study compared the comprehension of nonliteral language, and the ability to make inferences of children with autism and children with typical development, focusing on the role of social and cognitive abilities. Children with autism had difficulties in pragmatic language compared to children with typical development. In addition, the capacity to consider the perspective, intentions and beliefs of other people contributed significantly to the pragmatic language. Autism Res 2021, 14: 932-945. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
语用学（PL）被定义为在交际交流中有效使用语言的能力。先前的研究结果表明，语用学缺陷是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）个体交际特征的核心特征。虽然不同的研究路线揭示了 PL 与心理理论（ToM）之间以及 PL 与执行功能（EF）之间的紧密联系，但据我们所知，很少有研究探讨 ASD 儿童这三个领域之间的关系，而且他们的研究结果也相互矛盾。因此，本研究旨在增进我们对 ASD 儿童语用学的理解，并分析心理理论和执行功能的潜在中介作用。语用学是一个复杂而多方面的概念。在本研究中，我们专注于两个特定方面，即非字面语言的理解和推理能力。在测试了 143 名参与者（73 名 ASD 儿童）后，我们的研究结果证实，语用学缺陷是 ASD 特征的一个关键特征。ASD 儿童在心理理论和执行功能方面的表现也比他们的同龄人差。当考虑心理理论和执行功能对语用学的中介作用时，结果表明只有心理理论对组间语用学关系有显著影响。我们讨论了干预措施的潜在重要性，这些措施不仅关注语用学，还涉及心理理论。
