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Social Communication Competence and Functional Adaptation in a General Population of Children: Preliminary Evidence for Sex-by-Verbal IQ Differential Risk

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Abstract

Objective

The proportion of schoolchildren with mild social communicative deficits far exceeds the number diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). We aimed to ascertain both the population distribution of such deficits and their association with functional adaptation and cognitive ability in middle childhood.

Method

The parent-report Social and Communication Disorders Checklist was administered to participants (n = 8,094) in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. We correlated impairment severity with independent clinical diagnoses of ASD, cognitive abilities, and teacher-rated maladaptive behavior.

Results

Social and Communication Disorders Checklist scores were continuously distributed in the general population; boys had mean scores 30% higher than girls. Social communicative deficits were associated with functional impairment at school, especially in domains of hyperactivity and conduct disorders. A sex-by-verbal IQ interaction effect occurred: verbal IQ was protective against social communication impairments across the range of abilities in female subjects only. In male subjects, this protective effect did not exist for those with above-average verbal IQ.

Conclusions

Social communicative deficits are of prognostic significance, in terms of behavioral adjustment at school, for boys and girls. Their high general population prevalence emphasizes the importance of measuring such traits among clinically referred children who do not meet diagnostic ASD criteria. Above-average verbal IQ seems to confer protection against social communication impairments in female subjects but not in male subjects.

Section snippets

Sample

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is a prospective longitudinal intensively studied population cohort of children.25 Initial recruitment targeted all pregnant women living in the geographical region of Avon, England, who were expected to deliver their baby between April 1, 1991, and December 31, 1992, and more than 85% participated (average age was 28 years; range 14–46 years). Approximately 45% were expecting their first child; 6% had 3 or more children. Contact has

Results

Each of the SCDC symptoms (items) was rated as being “very or often true” (scoring 2), “quite or sometimes true” (scoring 1), or not true (scoring 0). The prevalence of each of the 12 individual symptoms rated as “very or often true” ranged from 0.7% to 3.9% (female) and from 2.3% to 6.2% (male) of the sample. For each symptom item, boys scored significantly higher than girls (p < .001). Consequently, the SCDC total score differed by sex: boys mean score 3.25 (SD 4.15), girls mean score 2.39

Discussion

The prevalence of mild deficits in social and communicative competence has a continuous distribution in the general population of schoolchildren. This is consistent with previous articles, suggesting that traits resembling those seen in ASD are not confined to children with a clinical diagnosis.8, 9 This study is the first to show the existence of a nonlinear sex-specific relation between VIQ and social communication competence. We present preliminary evidence that increased VIQ confers

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    • Cited by (0)

    This study was supported by a grant from the U.K. Medical Research Council, which also provides core support for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, together with the Wellcome Trust and the University of Bristol.

    The authors thank the children and families who participated in data collection, as well the whole Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children team.

    This article is the subject of an editorial by Dr. John Constantino in this issue.

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    Copyright © 2009 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.