The purpose of this study is to investigate alternative ways for the assessment of ASD. To this end the present article examined if deficits in affective and relational skills can predict the...Show moreThe purpose of this study is to investigate alternative ways for the assessment of ASD. To this end the present article examined if deficits in affective and relational skills can predict the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children aged 4 to 12 years. The sample consisted of 186 Dutch children, 45 children with ASD and 123 children without a diagnosis. The parents were asked to complete the Questionnaire Psychosocial Skills (VPV), which covers relational and affective skills, about their child. The results show that children with ASD have significant deficits in relational and affective skills. In addition, the relational and affective skills with gender and age predict with a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 96% the diagnosis of ASD. The total accuracy was 92%. When the relational and affective skills decrease the probability of the diagnosis of ASD grow. It is concludes that the VPV questionnaire, i.e. the subscales relational and affective skills, is a good research tool to support the diagnosis of ASD.Show less
Psychosocial functioning is important for the overall development of juveniles. When juveniles have psychosocial skill deficits this can lead to problems in school, peer relations and leisure...Show morePsychosocial functioning is important for the overall development of juveniles. When juveniles have psychosocial skill deficits this can lead to problems in school, peer relations and leisure activities. This study has examined if juveniles with an anxiety disorder and/or depression have psychosocial skill deficits and what role age and gender have on this. This study has a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Parents were asked to fill out the Social Emotional Questionnaire (SEV) and the Questionnaire Psychosocial Skills (VPV) about their child. The sample consisted of 584 Dutch juveniles in the age of 4 to 18 (M =11.73, sd = 3.55), with 41% of them being girls and 59% boys. The findings show that juveniles with an anxiety disorder and/or depression have more psychosocial skill deficits in contrast to juveniles without these disorders. The interactive skills are the most impaired. Findings also show that there are no significant differences in psychosocial functioning between children with either an anxiety disorder, a depression, or children that have both an anxiety disorder and a depression. There is no effect on psychosocial skills, as a result of age and gender. The findings of this study suggest that an early detection of psychosocial skill deficits in juveniles is of great importance to prevent anxiety disorders and/or a depression. It’s also important to detect and target psychosocial skill deficits in juveniles with an anxiety disorder and/or depression because this can define the course of their disorder and prevent relapses.Show less
The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the degree youngsters with ADHD and/or autism are able to use psychosocial skills, so as to offer active aid to teach these missing...Show moreThe purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the degree youngsters with ADHD and/or autism are able to use psychosocial skills, so as to offer active aid to teach these missing skills. A possible connection to gender and age was also investigated. In this study four basal psychosocial skills were investigated, namely: ‘relational skills’, ‘affective skills’, ‘selfcontrol’ and ‘self-awareness’. By means of a questionnaire filled in by parents and guardians data was collected of 408 youngsters aged four to eighteen years old. The research questions have been answered by means of multiple variance analyses. Youngsters with ADHD and/or autism have less developed psychosocial skills compared to youngsters without a developmental disorder. In this case youngsters with only ADHD and youngsters with only autism have better social skills than youngsters with both ADHD and autism. Between youngsters with ADHD and youngsters with autism there were no noticeable differences, but girls have developed better psychosocial skills than boys. These results can be used by parents, teachers and social workers to offer extra support to youngsters with ADHD and/or autism with regard to the development of their psychosocial skills. This way youngsters with ADHD and/or autism can hopefully develop these skills in a better way, which could contribute to their performance and wellbeing.Show less
Samenvatting Achtergrond: Psychosociale vaardigheden zijn noodzakelijk om adequaat in de maatschappij te kunnen functioneren. Psychosociale vaardigheden kunnen worden opgesplitst in relationele -...Show moreSamenvatting Achtergrond: Psychosociale vaardigheden zijn noodzakelijk om adequaat in de maatschappij te kunnen functioneren. Psychosociale vaardigheden kunnen worden opgesplitst in relationele - en affectieve vaardigheden, zelfsturing en zelfbewustzijn. Kinderen en jeugdigen met ODD/CD en/of een ASS blijken moeite te hebben met psychosociale vaardigheden. Doel: Dit onderzoek tracht antwoord te geven op de vraag met welke psychosociale vaardigheden kinderen en jeugdigen met ODD/CD en/of een ASS specifiek moeite hebben. Er wordt verwacht dat zowel de groep met ODD/CD als de groep met een ASS meer problemen ervaren met de vier facetten van psychosociale vaardigheden vergeleken met leeftijdsgenoten zonder stoornis. De comorbide groep zal deze problemen ook ervaren; verwacht wordt dat zij relatief het minst moeite hebben met zelfsturing. Leeftijd en geslacht zullen waarschijnlijk invloed hebben op de psychsociale vaardigheden. Methoden: Aan dit onderzoek doen in totaal 402 ouders mee, zij rapporteren over hun kinderen en jeugdigen die tussen de vier en achttien jaar oud zijn. De ouders vullen vragenlijsten in welke betrekking hebben op de sociaal-emotionele ontwikkeling en op psychosociale vaardigheden van hun kind, namelijk de Sociaal Emotionele Vragenlijst (SEV) en de Vragenlijst Psychosociale Vaardigheden (VPV). Resultaten: Kinderen en jeugdigen met ODD/CD en/of een ASS hebben significant meer moeite met relationele vaardigheden (F (3, 401)=110.5, p<.001), affectieve vaardigheden (F (3, 398) =84.8, p<.001), zelfsturing (F (3, 383) =40.4, p<.001) en zelfbewustzijn (F (3, 401)=80.189, p<.000). De effectgrootte is bij alle vier de facetten van psychosociale vaardigheden groot, de effectgrootte van leeftijd en geslacht is klein. Conclusie: Kinderen en jeugdigen met ODD/CD en/of een ASS ervaren op alle fronten significant meer problemen met psychosociale vaardigheden. De groep met een ASS vertoont meer problemen met relationele vaardigheden en minder problemen met zelfbewustzijn in vergelijking tot de groep met ODD/CD, qua affectieve vaardigheden en zelfsturing zijn er geen verschillen tussen de groepen. De comorbide groep heeft met alle vier de facetten de meeste moeite. Het is van belang om een gerichte interventie toe te passen die zich richt op de specifieke vaardigheden waar de meeste moeilijkheden mee ondervonden worden.Show less
The DSM-IV-TR presents criteria that a child must meet in order to be able to diagnose an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASS) or an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This diagnosis,...Show moreThe DSM-IV-TR presents criteria that a child must meet in order to be able to diagnose an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASS) or an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This diagnosis, however, gives no information about the child's psychosocial functioning. The present study examined on which domains of psychosocial behaviour children in the age 9 to 18 years old with ASS and/or ADHD show deficiencies. The study has a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Regular and special primary and secondary schools parents were asked to fill in on the Internet the Social Emotional Questionnaire (SEV) and the Questionnaire Psychosocial Skills (VPV) about their child. The sample consisted of 343 Dutch school children, including 187 boys (54.5%) and 156 girls (45.5%) in the age 9 to 18 years (M = 13.05, SD = 2.36). The findings showed that school-age children with ASS and/or ADHD compared to school-age children without a developmental disorder show a distinct disadvantage in terms of the relational and affective skills, self-management and self-awareness. The study also found that school-aged children with ADHD compared with school-age children with ASS have more relational skills. The study further showed that school-age children in the age group 14 to 18 years do have more relational and affective skills and self-awareness than children in the age 9 to 13 years. It was also found that girls have more relational and affective skills and self-management than boys. The findings of this study suggest the importance of detecting deficits in the psychosocial development of children with ASS and ADHD in an early stage, so that offering appropriate help immediately thereafter can possibly prevent further stagnation or even promote improvement of skills.Show less
