Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, RCB 5213, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
Psychology Department, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L3C5, Canada.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Aug;54(8):3094-3106. doi: 10.1007/s10803-023-06012-8. Epub 2023 Jun 21.
The current study examined whether social competence and autistic traits are related to anxiety and depression in autistic and non-autistic children. Parents of 340 children aged 6 to 12 years old, including 186 autistic and 154 non-autistic children completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to assess their child's autistic traits, the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS) to assess their child's social competence, and the Behaviour Assessment Scale for Children 2 (BASC-2) to assess their child's internalizing symptoms of depression and anxiety, and children were administered the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition (WASI-II) to assess their intellectual abilities. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relations between social competence, autistic traits, anxiety, and depression. Social competence was related to anxiety and depression symptoms in autistic children, but only depression symptoms in non-autistic children, above and beyond the effects of autistic traits, IQ and age. Autistic children were also reported to experience more severe anxiety and depression symptoms, and more autistic traits were related to higher levels of anxiety and depression in both groups. These findings suggest that social competence and internalizing symptoms are intricately connected in autistic children and need to be jointly considered in both assessment and intervention. The social implications are discussed with an emphasis on acceptance of diverse social styles as a viable avenue to reduce children's internalizing symptoms.
本研究考察了社交能力和自闭症特质是否与自闭症和非自闭症儿童的焦虑和抑郁有关。研究招募了 340 名 6 至 12 岁的儿童（包括 186 名自闭症儿童和 154 名非自闭症儿童）的家长参与，家长们填写了自闭症谱系商数（AQ）以评估孩子的自闭症特质，多维社交能力量表（MSCS）以评估孩子的社交能力，儿童行为评估量表第二版（BASC-2）以评估孩子的抑郁和焦虑等内化症状，同时对儿童进行韦氏儿童智力量表第四版（WASI-II）测试以评估他们的智力水平。通过分层多元回归分析，研究了社交能力、自闭症特质、焦虑和抑郁之间的关系。研究发现，社交能力与自闭症儿童的焦虑和抑郁症状有关，但与非自闭症儿童的焦虑和抑郁症状有关，这超出了自闭症特质、智商和年龄的影响。自闭症儿童还表现出更严重的焦虑和抑郁症状，且自闭症特质与两组儿童的焦虑和抑郁水平呈正相关。这些发现表明，社交能力和内化症状在自闭症儿童中紧密相连，在评估和干预中都需要同时考虑。本文强调了接受不同的社交风格作为减少儿童内化症状的可行途径，讨论了其社会意义。
