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Intellectual Ability, Self-perceived Social Competence, and Depressive Symptomatology in Children with High-functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

Although social competence deficits in children with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorders (HFASD) are well documented, there is little research investigating self-perceptions of social limitations. This study replicated research showing a negative association between self-perceived social competence and intellectual ability and investigated associations between self-perceived social competence and depressive symptomatology. Participants were 22 children with HFASD, aged 7–13 years with intelligence quotient (IQ) scores of 82–141. Parent- (N = 18) and teacher- (N = 17) rated social competence was lower for children with HFASD compared with a normative sample. Higher age and IQ predicted lower levels of self-perceived social competence, and low self-perceived social competence predicted higher levels of depressive symptomatology. Almost a third of children rated themselves for depression; parent ratings suggested even higher levels.

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Notes

  1. Comparisons between these studies must be treated with caution. First, data from later studies were obtained using more systematic and objective methodology, and larger sample sizes. Second, variability in participant selection, sample characteristics, and assessment procedures makes comparisons difficult.

  2. The sample gender ratio of boys:girls compares with general prevalence ratios of 5:1 for ASD (see Lord & Schopler, 1985; Rutter, 1996; Wing, 1981b). As girls with an ASD tend to be more severely intellectually impaired than boys, the ratio of boys to girls is expected to be even higher among high-functioning individuals (Tsai & Beisler, 1983; Volkmar, Szatmari, & Sparrow, 1993; Wing, 1981b).

  3. Self-perceived social competence was based on the PCSC (Harter, 1982) for Capps et al., (1995) results, and on the SPPC (Harter, 1985) for the present results. Furthermore, Capps et al. (1995) used the socialisation skills domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS; Sparrow, Balla, & Cicchetti, 1984) to measure the child’s social competence, whereas this study used the SSRS Parent-version (Gresham & Elliot, 1990).

  4. Capps et al. (1995) found that IQ and parental reports of child’s social competence were significantly positively correlated (r = 0.72, p < 0.001), whereas this correlation was not significant in this study (r = 0.24, p > 0.05).

  5. Similar significant associations were found between child’s self-perceived social competence and IQ in the Capps et al. (1995) study was r = 0.51, p < 0.05, N = 18) and the present study (r = 0.52, p < 0.05, N = 22).

  6. Notably, however, the ratio of females to males in our sample was representative of general prevalence ratios of 5:1 for ASD (Lord & Schopler, 1985; Wing, 1981b).

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Acknowledgments

This paper is based on the Honours Thesis of the first author under supervision of the second author. This research is based on data from a larger intervention study conducted in association with the Children’s Hospital Westmead, and the University of Sydney, Australia, under direction of Sandra Heriot. The authors thank the children and their families who made this research possible by generously volunteering their time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Sandy Vickerstaff, Sandra Heriot & Ana Lopes

  2. CAMHSNET, John Hunter Hospital, Lambton, NSW, Australia

    Sandra Heriot

  3. Department of Psychological Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Michelle Wong & David Dossetor

Authors
  1. Sandy Vickerstaff
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  2. Sandra Heriot
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  3. Michelle Wong
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  4. Ana Lopes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandy Vickerstaff.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Summary of studies reporting depression in individuals with ASD

Author

Mean age (years)

HFASD (Y/N)

Total N

Sex (m/f)

Initial diagnosis

Psychiatric disorder (n or %)

Reid (1976)*

32.0

N

1

F 1

AD

1 depression

Wolff and Chick (1980)

22.2

Y

22

M 22

‘Schizoid’/AspD

9.1% depression; 4.5% mood swings; 22.7% attempted suicide

Wing (1981a)*

16+

Y

18

M 18

AspD

23% affective disorder

Komoto, Usui, and Hirata (1984)*

13.0; 13.5

N

2

M 1; F 1

AD

1 depression; 1 manic depression

Gillberg (1985)*

14.0

Y

1

M 1

AspD

1 manic depression

Rumsey et al. (1985)

28.0

Y

9

M 9

AD 9

2.2% depression

Akuffo, MacSweeney, and Gajwani (1986)*

40.0

N

1

F 1

AD

1 manic depression

Linter (1987)*

15.0

N

1

M 1

Autistic like

1 manic depression

Kerbeshian & Burd (1987)*

13.0

N

1

M 1

AA

1 depression

Sovner (1988)*

26.0

Y

1

F 1

PDD

1 depression

Clarke, Littlejohns, Corbett, and Joseph (1989)*

23.0

N

1

M 1

AD

1 depression

Sovner (1989)*

31.0; 24.0

N

2

M 1; F 1

AD

1 depression; 1 manic depression

Tantam (1991)

18+

Y

85

M 85

AspD 85

15% depression

Ghaziuddin, Tsai, and Ghaziuddin (1991a)*

17.0; 16.0

N

2

M 1; F 1

AD + Down syndrome; AD

2 depression

Ghaziuddin and Tsai (1991)*

17.0

N

1

M 1

AD & Down syndrome

1 depression

Ghaziuddin, Tsai, and Ghaziuddin (1992)

8.0

Y

68

M 55; F 13

AD 68

2.9% depression; 1.5% depression NOS

Kurita and Nakayasu (1994)*

20.7

N

1

M 1

AD

1 seasonal affective disorder

Ghaziuddin et al. (1998)

15.1

Y

35

M 29; F 6

AspD 35

22.9% depression; 11.4% dysthymia; 2.9% bipolar

Martin, Scahill, Klin, and Volkmar (1999)

13.9

Y

109

M 90; F 19

HFASD 109

32% depression

Green et al. (2000)

13.8

Y

20

M 20

AspD 20

25% depression

Kim et al. (2000)

12.0

Y

59

M 52; F 7

AspD 40; AD 19

16.9% depression

Tantam (2003)

not reported

Y

234

not reported

AspD 234

19.7% depression

Hill et al. (2004)

35.1

Y

27

M 15; F 12

AD 7; AspD 20

22% clinical depression; 75% some depression

  1. * Case studies and case series
  2. AspD Asperger’s disorder; AD autistic disorder; PDD pervasive developmental disorder; PDD-NOS pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified

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Vickerstaff, S., Heriot, S., Wong, M. et al. Intellectual Ability, Self-perceived Social Competence, and Depressive Symptomatology in Children with High-functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 37, 1647–1664 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0292-x

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