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Perceptions of Social Functioning in Young
Children with ASD Comparing Parent and Teacher
Reports Michelle B. Jackson, M.A.1, Maile A.
Horn, M.A.1, and Elizabeth A. Laugeson,
Psy.D.2 1The Help Group UCLA Autism Research
Alliance, 2UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience
Human Behavior
BACKGROUND
DISCUSSION
METHODS

• PROCEDURES
• Raters completed the Social Responsiveness Scale
  (SRS) and the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS)
  to assess perceptions of childrens psychosocial
  functioning.
• Bivariate correlations were done on
  parent-reports and teacher-reports for the SRS
  and SSRS.
• Partial correlations were done as well, in order
  to control for potentially extraneous variables.

Research has investigated differences between
parent-reports and self-reports of social
functioning for children with Autism Spectrum
Disorders (ASD). Less is known about the
specific relationship between parent-reports and
teacher-reports of social functioning among
children with ASD (Murray, Ruble, Willis,
Molloy, 2009). Among the limited research
that has been done in this area, studies
primarily focus on older children (Constantino et
al., 2003 White, Koenig, Scahill, 2007).
Because practitioners tends to use a
multi-informant approach when assessing young
children with ASD (Lecavalier et al., 2004 Jones
Frederickson, 2010), research examining
differences between parent- and teacher-reports
of social functioning for younger children
represent a gap in the literature and should be
more widely investigated.
The finding that parent-reports and
teacher-reports on the SRS were only
significantly correlated because of their reports
of Autistic Mannerisms suggests that teachers and
parents are in agreement on areas of functioning
that are more outwardly apparent and
quantifiable. The agreement between parents and
teachers when specifically assessing Assertion on
the SSRS, another more easily observable area of
functioning, supports this conclusion.
Nevertheless, teachers and parents do not appear
to be in accordance when assessing areas of
social functioning that are more internal and not
as easily perceptible, as evidenced by lower
teacher-reports of Self-Control on the SSRS in
comparison to parent-reports . Assuming these
findings are accurate representations of
childrens social behavior in different contexts,
results suggest that certain social behaviors are
context-dependent. Consequently, interventions
targeting better communication about social
functioning between parents and teachers of
preschool-aged children with ASD would be
advantageous. In addition to implementing these
interventions, future studies should seek to
replicate these results with larger samples.
Future research may also contribute to our better
understanding of perceptions of social
functioning in young children with ASD by adding
qualitative data to assist in further clarifying
reasons for parent-teacher differences.
RESULTS
Table 1. Pearson Correlations of Parent and
Teacher Perceptions of Overall Social
Responsiveness on the SRS
PEARSON CORRELATIONS PEARSON CORRELATIONS PEARSON CORRELATIONS
SRS-T Teacher Total Score SRS-P Parent Total Score
SRS-T Teacher Total Score Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 1 11 .715 .013 11
SRS-P Parent Total Score Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N .715 .013 11 1 11
OBJECTIVES
This study examines both the differences and
similarities in perceptions of social functioning
among teachers and parents of preschool-aged
children with ASD. The relationship between
parent-reports and teacher-reports of social
functioning on two standardized measures were
investigated.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the families and
teachers for their participation in this study.
We are grateful for their generous support of
this project. For more information, please
contact Michelle Jackson, M.A. alliance_at_thehelpgr
oup.org or [phone]
CONTACT INFORMATION
METHODS
p lt .05
Table 2. Pearson Correlations of Parent and
Teacher Perceptions of Assertion on the SSRS

• PARTICIPANTS
• Parents and teachers of 11 preschool children
  participated in the study
• Children were all previously diagnosed with an
  Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Children were 3 to 5 years of age (M 4.14
  years SD .66)
• Gender 18 Female (n2) 82 Male (n9)
• Ethnicity 46 Hispanic (n5) 27 Multi-Ethnic
  (n3) 18 Caucasian
• (n2) 9 Asian (n1)
• Children were students at the Young Learners
  Preschool at The Help Group in Sherman Oaks, CA
• MEASURES
• PARENT MEASURES
• Demographic questionnaire
• Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-P Constantino
  Gruber, 2005)
• Parent Form
• Social Skills Rating System (SSRS-P Gresham
  Elliott, 1990)
• Parent Form

REFERENCES
PEARSON CORRELATIONS PEARSON CORRELATIONS PEARSON CORRELATIONS
SSRS-T Assertion Subscale SSRS-P Assertion Subscale
SSRS-T Assertion Subscale Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 1 11 .685 .020 11
SSRS-P Assertion Subscale Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N .685 .020 11 1 11

1. Constantino, J.N., Davis, S.A., Todd, R.D.,
   Schindler, M.K., Gross, M.M., Brophy, S.L.,
   Metzger, L.M., Shoushtari, C.S., Reich, W.
   (2003). Validation of a brief quantitative
   measure of autistic traits Comparison of the
   Social Responsiveness Scale with the Autism
   Diagnostic Interview-Revised. Journal of Autism
   and Developmental Disorders, 33(4), 427-433.
2. Constantino, J.N., Gruber, C.P. (2005). The
   Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) Manual. Los
   Angeles, CA Western Psychological Services.
3. Gresham, F.M., Elliot, S. (1990). The Social
   Skils Rating System. MN American Guidance
   Service.
4. Jones, A.P., Frederickson, N. (2010).
   Multi-informant predictors of social inclusion
   for students with autism spectrum disorders
   attending mainstream school. Journal of Autism
   and Developmental Disorders, 40(9), 1094-1103.
5. Lecavalier, L., Aman, M.G., Hammer, D., Stoica,
   W., Matthews, G. (2004). Factor analysis of
   the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form in
   children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal
   of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34,
   709-721.
6. Murray, D.S., Ruble, L.A., Willis, H., Molloy,
   C.A. (2009). Parent and teacher report of social
   skills in children with autism spectrum
   disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing
   Services in Schools, 40(2), 119-115.
7. White, S.W., Keonig, K., Scahill, L. (2007).
   Social skills development in children with
   autism spectrum disorders A review of the
   intervention research. Journal of Autism and
   Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1858-1868.

• p lt .05
• Results reveal that parent-reports of overall
  social responsiveness were significantly
  correlated with teacher-reports of social
  responsiveness on the SRS (r.715, p.013). See
  Table 1
• This correlation was no longer statistically
  significant when controlling for parent-reports
  and teacher-reports of Autistic Mannerisms on the
  SRS (p.323).
• Parent-reports did not significantly correlate
  with teacher-reports of overall social skills on
  the SSRS (r.489, p.127), due to lower reports
  of Self-Control (p.036) by parents.
• Inter-item correlations showed that
  parent-reports and teacher-reports of Assertion
  on the SSRS did significantly correlate with one
  another (r.685, p.020). See Table 2