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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2009) 44:508513 DOI 10.1007/s00127-008-0456-4
ORIGINAL PAPER
Elizabeth B. Liddle Martin J. Batty Robert Goodman
The Social Aptitudes Scale: an initial validation
Received: 10 July 2008 / Revised: 16 October 2008 / Published online: 1 November 2008
j Abstract Background Poor social skills are associated with a range of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders, with decits being particularly marked in autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). Here, we validate a brief measure of social aptitudes where low scores are designed to index a substantially raised risk of ASDs. Method Parents of a national community sample of 7,977 British 516 year olds completed the Social Aptitudes Scale (SAS) as well as a general questionnaire measure of psychopathology, the Strengths and Difculties Questionnaire (SDQ). Psychiatric diagnoses were assigned by clinical raters on the basis of detailed multi-informant information. Results All ten items of the SAS loaded onto a single latent factor, with a Cronbachs alpha of 0.88. Correlations between the SAS and the SDQ were only modest, suggesting that the SAS measures different attributes to the SDQ. The SAS was signicantly better than the SDQ at identifying ASDs. Conclusion Children and adolescents with low SAS scores are at increased risk of mental health problems, particularly ASDs.
j Key words autistic spectrum disorder diagnosis methodology screening
Introduction
Impaired social ability is associated with child psychiatric disorders for several reasons. Qualitative abnormalities in reciprocal social interactions are dening characteristics of autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) [2, 17]. In addition, a broad range of child psychiatric disorders can potentially cause, and be caused by, poor social skills. Thus behavioural and emotional disorders may lead to rejection or neglect by peers [12], reducing opportunities for the social learning of social skills. Conversely, peer problems can increase psychiatric vulnerability to adverse life events or chronic adversities [11].
Even brief assessments of childrens mental health and wellbeing often include items on friendship and popularity [e.g. 1, 10], whereas it is less common for social aptitudes to be assessed directly. This may reect the implicit assumption that success and failure in peer relationships are themselves adequate indices of good and poor social skills. However, it is worth distinguishing between social inclusion (friendship, popularity, victimization) and social skill because they are conceptually distinct and may...