Background – children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have an increased risk to develop challenging behaviour and the question is whether this risk is partly due to the language deficits...Show moreBackground – children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have an increased risk to develop challenging behaviour and the question is whether this risk is partly due to the language deficits most children with ASD have to face. Methods – data were collected on the expressive and pragmatic language abilities en internalising and externalising behaviour problems of 23 children with ASD (8;2 – 13;5 year; 3 girls and 23 boys). The relationship between those variables was examined using several multiple regression analyses, in which age and gender were the possible moderating factors. Results – a positive association was found between expressive language and externalising behaviour problems. A negative association was found between pragmatic language and internalising behaviour problems. No independent association was found between expressive and internalising behaviour problems, but taking in account pragmatic language, a positive association was found. There was no influence for age and gender. Discussion – an association was found between language and behaviour problems in children with ASD. The nature of the relationship en possible causality need to be further examined though. The results suggest an influence of the common discrepancy between expressive and pragmatic language abilities is more important than the absolute language abilities.Show less
Many studies have shown increased social anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This anxiety can result from a combination of factors, including poor social skills. This study...Show moreMany studies have shown increased social anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This anxiety can result from a combination of factors, including poor social skills. This study will examine if social skill rates will affect the levels of social anxiety. A total of 114 children participated in the study, 86 children in the control group, 28 children in de ASD-group. To measure social anxiety we used the Social Anxiety Scale for Children (SAS-K). Social skills were measured with the Social Cognitive Skills Test (SCST). We found no significant difference in the levels of social anxiety and the rates of social skills between the two groups. For children with ASD, there appeared to be no relation between social anxiety and social skills, social skills did not predict social anxiety. We did find a significant (but weak) relation between these variables for the control group, social skills proved to be a significant predictor of social anxiety for these children. False comorbidity in previous studies could be the cause of these contradicting results. The non-significant difference in social skills between the groups could mean that children with ASD do possess social cognitive skills, but cannot apply these in social situations. There are also limitations to the study which could affect the results.Show less
This research has been conducted with the objective to study the role of executive functions (EF); inhibition, working memory and flexibility in the prediction of behavior problems in children with...Show moreThis research has been conducted with the objective to study the role of executive functions (EF); inhibition, working memory and flexibility in the prediction of behavior problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The children in the research group were selected via different centers in the Netherlands and consists of 29 boys and 4 girls. The ages vary between 8.2 and 14.1 years. The different EF have been measured by three different tasks out of the ANT (STS, SSV, GoNoGo) and with the help of the DEX questionnaire, which has been filled in by the parents. The behavior problems; emotional problems, hyperactivity, conduct disorder and pro-social behavior have also been measured by using the questionnaire filled in by the parents (SDQ). From within the SSV the results show that it turns out that inhibition is a predictor for hyperactivity. Furthermore only the DEX questionnaire turns out to be a predictor for different behavioral problems. It is found that emotional problems cannot be predicted from executive dysfunctions. The current study reveals that executive dysfunctions are a predictical factor for behavioral problems. Distinction in which EF are predictive for a certain type behavior problems cannot be made.Show less
This study examined the influence of the level of intelligence on the level and form of social anxiety (SA) in boys and girls with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children (n = 160),...Show moreThis study examined the influence of the level of intelligence on the level and form of social anxiety (SA) in boys and girls with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children (n = 160), between eight and eighteen years old with a mean age of 11.0 years (SD = 1.7), with ASD (n = 50) and without ASD (n = 110) completed the subtests Vocabulary and Block Patterns from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale of Children-III (WISC-III-NL) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children (SAS-k). Also other factors are taken into account, namely difference between several types of ASD, verbal and performance intelligence, forms of SA and gender in relation to SA. Children with ASD reported more SA than children without ASD, and SA is linked to the level of intelligence, in the sense that the higher the level of intelligence, the lower the level of SA. Children experienced more SA in situations which demand their intellectual skills and their outward appearance in social situations. Furthermore, children with a higher level of verbal intelligence reported a lower level of SA compared with children with a lower level of verbal intelligence. At last, children with autism reported a higher level of SA compared with children with Asperger's Syndrome or children without ASD. These findings demonstrate the relationship between children with ASD and the level of SA and the influence of intelligence. Also the importance of intelligence tests in the initiation of clinical treatment.Show less
This study addressed the relationship between emotion recognition and Theory of Mind (ToM) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Emotion recognition was measured with the Eprime Emotion...Show moreThis study addressed the relationship between emotion recognition and Theory of Mind (ToM) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Emotion recognition was measured with the Eprime Emotion Recognition. ToM was measured with the Social Cognitive Skills Test. The ASD-group consisted of 28 children between 9 – 16,9 years old (M = 11,8). The control group consisted of 85 children between the age of 9 – 14,2 (M = 10,6). Significant correlations were found between sadness and ToM in both groups. A possible explanation is that emotions have shared brain structures, but also their ‘own’ pathways, with the exception of sadness. It might be that sadness mostly uses shared brain structures, which also play a considerable role in ToM.Show less
With this master thesis research is conducted using two clarifying theories of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); namely the influence of Theory of Mind (ToM) and Executive Functions (EF) on the...Show moreWith this master thesis research is conducted using two clarifying theories of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); namely the influence of Theory of Mind (ToM) and Executive Functions (EF) on the social behavior of children with ASD and normal developed children. The average age of these children was between 10;6 and 10;7 years. In this research 27 children participated diagnosed with ASD and 83 healthy children participated as control group. Also the parents of both groups of children participated, and were required to fill in questionnaires. Social skills were measured with the help of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), and executive skills were measured using the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX). Furthermore, ToM skills of 27 children with ASD and 83 children from the control group were identified, using the Social Cognitive Skills Test (SCVT). Findings in this study do not confirm the hypothesis that ToM and EF are important theories in relation to the development of social skills by the ASS group. However, in the control group EF appeared to be a good predictor for social behavior.Show less
