Brief Report: Associations between preverbal social communication skills, language and symptom severity in children with autism: An investigation using the Early Sociocognitive Battery

TY - JOUR

T1 - Brief Report: Associations between preverbal social communication skills, language and symptom severity in children with autism

T2 - An investigation using the Early Sociocognitive Battery

AU - Taylor, Lauren J.

AU - Charman, Tony

AU - Howlin, Patricia A

AU - Slonims, Vicky

AU - Green, Jonathan

AU - The PACT-G Consortium

AU - Emsley, Richard A.

PY - 2020/4/1

Y1 - 2020/4/1

N2 - We investigated the Early Sociocognitive Battery (ESB), a novel measure of preverbal social communication skills, in children with autism participating in the Paediatric Autism Communication Trial-Generalised (PACT-G). The associations between ESB scores, language and autism symptoms were assessed in 249 children aged 2-11 years. The results show that ESB subscale scores (social responsiveness, joint attention and symbolic comprehension) were significantly associated with concurrent autism symptoms and receptive and expressive language levels. The pattern of association between the ESB subscale scores differed between the ADOS-2 symptom domains and expressive and receptive language. These findings indicate the potential utility of the ESB as a measure of preverbal social communication in children with autism.

AB - We investigated the Early Sociocognitive Battery (ESB), a novel measure of preverbal social communication skills, in children with autism participating in the Paediatric Autism Communication Trial-Generalised (PACT-G). The associations between ESB scores, language and autism symptoms were assessed in 249 children aged 2-11 years. The results show that ESB subscale scores (social responsiveness, joint attention and symbolic comprehension) were significantly associated with concurrent autism symptoms and receptive and expressive language levels. The pattern of association between the ESB subscale scores differed between the ADOS-2 symptom domains and expressive and receptive language. These findings indicate the potential utility of the ESB as a measure of preverbal social communication in children with autism.

KW - Autism

KW - Language

KW - Preverbal social communication

KW - Symptom severity

U2 - 10.1007/s10803-020-04364-z

DO - 10.1007/s10803-020-04364-z

M3 - Article

SN - 0162-3257

VL - 50

SP - 1434

EP - 1442

JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

IS - 4

ER -