Research Article
Tsang Vicky
Abstract
Introduction: Although individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) share common social interaction deficits, there are specific differences in the quality of their social information processing. Objectives: The purpose of this study was two-fold: (i) what are the measurement properties of the SIPIS, in measuring the construct of social information processing from the three aspects of social encoding, social empathy and social reasoning, in regard to its degree of fitness to the Rasch model? (ii) Can the SIPIS discriminate SIP performances between neurotypical controls, individuals with ASD and their subtypes? Methods: Subjects with ASD and their subtypes were assessed through viewing social videos using the newlydeveloped Social Information Processing Interview Schedule (SIPIS). Rasch analysis was adopted to investigate the psychometric properties of the newly developed SIPIS including its discriminative validity. Results: Findings of the Rasch analyses supported that the SIPIS contains assessment items that tap into the social encoding, social empathy, and social reasoning aspects of social information processing. Findings confirmed that both individuals with ASD and with ADHD manifest more difficulties in social information processing compared to the control group and that the social information processing deficits in individuals with ASD-only and comorbid ASD/ ADHD tend to occur more at the cognitive level while in individuals with ADHD-only they to occur more at the emotional perception level. Conclusion: Our findings seem to support the parallel pathways of the bottom-up emotion perception-action coupling processes and the top-down meta-cognitive executive regulatory control. Future assessment and intervention can be further explored from the perspectives of social information processing.