Social skills and self-control in kids with autism and ADHD
While children with both autism and ADHD struggle with social reasoning, those with autism face more severe difficulties applying these skills in daily life, which are linked to different underlying self-control issues.
Source
Social Cognition in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Associations with Executive Functions
What they did
Researchers compared 126 children aged 7 to 11, including 52 with high-functioning autism, 35 with ADHD, and 39 with typical development. They measured emotional recognition and social reasoning using laboratory tests, parental reports of daily behavior, and teacher evaluations of executive functioning. The groups were matched on average age, overall IQ, and language abilities.
What they found
Both clinical groups scored lower than typically developing peers on laboratory tests of emotion recognition and verbal social reasoning. However, parental ratings of real-life social application revealed a clear gradient: children with autism struggled the most, those with ADHD showed intermediate difficulties, and typically developing children performed the best. Furthermore, social deficits in ADHD were linked to behavioral control (like impulsivity), whereas in autism they were tied to initiation and planning issues.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Because of the cross-sectional design, this study cannot prove whether self-control deficits cause social difficulties or vice versa. The clinical samples were heavily skewed toward males, with over 91.42% of the autism group and 94.3% of the ADHD group being boys, meaning the results might not fully apply to girls. Additionally, high medication rates—such as 71.4% of the ADHD group taking psychostimulants—and a reliance on subjective teacher ratings for executive functions limit the generalizability of these findings.
Key terms
- Theory of Mind (ToM)
- The cognitive ability to attribute mental states, such as beliefs, desires, and intentions, to oneself and others to explain and predict behavior.
- Executive Functioning (EF)
- A set of cognitive processes—including working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control—that enable people to plan, focus attention, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.
- Affect Recognition
- The ability to identify and interpret emotional cues, such as facial expressions or vocal tones, in other people.
- Endophenotype
- A measurable biological, cognitive, or behavioral trait that is closely linked to the genetic underpinnings of a disorder.
- Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI)
- A measure of a child's ability to maintain appropriate inhibitory control, shift cognitive sets, and regulate emotions.
- Metacognition Index (MI)
- A measure of a child's ability to initiate, plan, organize, self-monitor, and sustain working memory to manage cognitive tasks.
Flashcards
Want these cards to stick?
Save the deck to NoteFren and study it with spaced repetition.
Quiz yourself
In terms of severity, how do social cognition differences between children with HFASD and ADHD generally present?
Common questions
Why did the researchers study both autism and ADHD together?
Autism and ADHD often occur together and share genetic and neurological origins, so comparing them helps scientists understand where their social and cognitive challenges overlap or diverge.
What is the difference between explicit and applied Theory of Mind?
Explicit Theory of Mind refers to logical knowledge about others' thoughts tested in structured lab settings, while applied Theory of Mind is the actual ability to use this knowledge to navigate real-life social situations.
How do self-control issues connect differently to social problems in autism versus ADHD?
In children with ADHD, social difficulties are closely linked to poor behavioral control (like impulsivity and emotional outbursts). In children with autism, these difficulties are more tied to struggles with starting tasks, planning, and organizing thoughts.
Does this study suggest children with ADHD have the same social deficits as children with autism?
Not exactly. While both groups struggle on structured lab tests, parents report that children with ADHD are better at applying social skills in daily life than children with autism, placing them in an intermediate position between typical development and autism.
More on Social cognition