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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2017 Jan;58(1):94-102.
doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12636. Epub 2016 Sep 13.

Characteristics of socially successful elementary school-aged children with autism

Jill Locke  1 , Justin Williams  2 , Wendy Shih  2 , Connie Kasari  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Characteristics of socially successful elementary school-aged children with autism

Jill Locke et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Background: The extant literature demonstrates that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty interacting and socially connecting with typically developing classmates. However, some children with ASD have social outcomes that are consistent with their typically developing counterparts. Little is known about this subgroup of children with ASD. This study examined the stable (unlikely to change) and malleable (changeable) characteristics of socially successful children with ASD.

Methods: This study used baseline data from three intervention studies performed in public schools in the Southwestern United States. A total of 148 elementary-aged children with ASD in 130 classrooms in 47 public schools participated. Measures of playground peer engagement and social network salience (inclusion in informal peer groups) were obtained.

Results: The results demonstrated that a number of malleable factors significantly predicted playground peer engagement (class size, autism symptom severity, peer connections) and social network salience (autism symptom severity, peer connections, received friendships). In addition, age was the only stable factor that significantly predicted social network salience. Interestingly, two malleable (i.e., peer connections and received friendships) and no stable factors (i.e., age, IQ, sex) predicted overall social success (e.g., high playground peer engagement and social network salience) in children with ASD.

Conclusions: School-based interventions should address malleable factors such as the number of peer connections and received friendships that predict the best social outcomes for children with ASD.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; individual characteristics; school; social skills.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that they have no competing or potential conflicts of interest in relation to this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sample social network map. Each line denotes a connection. The number in parentheses next to the ID is the frequency with which that child was nominated to a social group (individual centrality). The number within the social network webs represents the child’s group centrality. Each ID (e.g., A1, B2, C3, etc.) represents a child in this classroom. A1 is the child with ASD. A1 is peripheral with 1 connection to Child T20. C3 also is peripheral, yet C3 has 5 connections to peers (D4, H8, J10, O15, and Q17) in his classroom. O15 is secondary, within the middle 40% of the classroom’s social structure. H8 is nuclear, within the top 30% of the classroom’s social structure. H8 and J10 were the most frequently listed children in the classroom with 8 total nominations to a social group.
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