Social Motivation Across Multiple Measures: Caregiver-Report of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- PMID: 32929890
- PMCID: PMC8954038
- DOI: 10.1002/aur.2386
Social Motivation Across Multiple Measures: Caregiver-Report of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Abstract
Social motivation is a foundational construct with regard to the etiology, neurobiology, and phenotype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Multiple theories suggest that early emerging alterations to social motivation underlie a developmental cascade of social and communication deficits across the lifespan. Despite this significance, methods to measure social motivation vary widely, with little data to date as to how different measures might compare. In this study, we explore three existing caregiver-report measures that have been proposed to quantify social motivation among school-age children with ASD (n = 18; all male) and without ASD (n = 36; 50% female), with the broad goal of characterizing social motivation across measures and specific aims of investigating (a) diagnostic and sex differences in social motivation, (b) correspondence between measures, and (c) relationships between social motivation and broader social outcomes. Across all three measures, individuals with ASD had lower social motivation by caregiver-report. However, they did display individual differences in the degree of social motivation reported. There were no differences in social motivation between males and females without ASD on any of the three measures. For the full sample, measures of social motivation correlated with one another as anticipated, and stronger social motivation was associated with stronger social skills and fewer social difficulties. Our data suggest that social motivation among children with ASD may be best conceptualized as an individual difference that is diminished on average relative to peers but which varies among children and adolescents with ASD, rather than as an absolute absence or uniform deficit. LAY SUMMARY: Several theories suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience less social motivation than their peers without ASD, contributing to difficulties in social skills. Based on multiple caregiver-report questionnaires, social motivation was reduced on average for school-age children with ASD but also varied among children with ASD. Stronger social motivation was related to stronger social skills and fewer social problems. Future work should include more girls with ASD, consider social motivation across age groups, and include first-hand perspectives from people with ASD.
Keywords: affiliation; sex differences; social motivation; social skills.
© 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflict of Interest
The authors report no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest in the outcome of this project. Bernier is currently at Apple.
Figures
![Figure 1:](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/8954038/bin/nihms-1786065-f0001.gif)
![Figure 2:](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/8954038/bin/nihms-1786065-f0002.gif)
![Figure 3:](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/8954038/bin/nihms-1786065-f0003.gif)
Similar articles
-
Social motivation by self- and caregiver-report: Reporter concordance and social correlates among autistic and neurotypical youth.Autism Res. 2024 Jan;17(1):55-65. doi: 10.1002/aur.3054. Epub 2023 Nov 21. Autism Res. 2024. PMID: 37987233
-
Exploring Social Subtypes in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study.Autism Res. 2020 Aug;13(8):1335-1342. doi: 10.1002/aur.2294. Epub 2020 Mar 18. Autism Res. 2020. PMID: 32187854
-
Child and family characteristics moderate agreement between caregiver and clinician report of autism symptoms.Autism Res. 2018 Mar;11(3):476-487. doi: 10.1002/aur.1907. Epub 2017 Dec 18. Autism Res. 2018. PMID: 29251835 Free PMC article.
-
The effect of caregiver-delivered social-communication interventions on skill generalization and maintenance in ASD.Res Dev Disabil. 2018 Mar;74:57-71. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2018.01.006. Epub 2018 Jan 20. Res Dev Disabil. 2018. PMID: 29360047 Review.
-
Equine assisted services impact on social skills in autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis.Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 13;125:110765. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2023.110765. Epub 2023 Apr 7. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2023. PMID: 37031948 Review.
Cited by
-
Motivation in caregiving among mothers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Iran: A qualitative study.BMC Pediatr. 2024 Jul 25;24(1):472. doi: 10.1186/s12887-024-04957-y. BMC Pediatr. 2024. PMID: 39049077 Free PMC article.
-
People with Autism Spectrum Disorder Could Interact More Easily with a Robot than with a Human: Reasons and Limits.Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Feb 12;14(2):131. doi: 10.3390/bs14020131. Behav Sci (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38392485 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Characterising the social interaction style of autism in young adult males with fragile X syndrome.J Intellect Disabil Res. 2024 May;68(5):464-476. doi: 10.1111/jir.13121. Epub 2024 Jan 23. J Intellect Disabil Res. 2024. PMID: 38258970
-
Social motivation by self- and caregiver-report: Reporter concordance and social correlates among autistic and neurotypical youth.Autism Res. 2024 Jan;17(1):55-65. doi: 10.1002/aur.3054. Epub 2023 Nov 21. Autism Res. 2024. PMID: 37987233
-
Internal Consistency of the Serbian Translation of the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale and Association to Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Scores in Male and Female Individuals on the Autism Spectrum and Non-autistic Individuals.J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Jul 22. doi: 10.1007/s10803-023-06061-z. Online ahead of print. J Autism Dev Disord. 2023. PMID: 37480441
References
-
- Achenbach TM, & Rescorla LA (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms & Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.
-
- American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
-
- Beglinger L, & Smith T (2005). Concurrent validity of social subtype and IQ after early intensive behavioral intervention in children with autism: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35 (3), 295–303. - PubMed
-
- Castelloe P, & Dawson G (1993). Subclassification of children with autism and pervasive developmental disorder: A questionnaire based on Wing’s subgrouping scheme. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23(2), 229–241. - PubMed