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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 6/2009

01-06-2009 | ORIGINAL PAPER

The Social Aptitudes Scale: an initial validation

Authors: Elizabeth B. Liddle, Martin J. Batty, Robert Goodman

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 6/2009

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Abstract

Background

Poor social skills are associated with a range of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders, with deficits being particularly marked in autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). Here, we validate a brief measure of social aptitudes where low scores are designed to index a substantially raised risk of ASDs.

Method

Parents of a national community sample of 7,977 British 5–16 year olds completed the Social Aptitudes Scale (SAS) as well as a general questionnaire measure of psychopathology, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Psychiatric diagnoses were assigned by clinical raters on the basis of detailed multi-informant information.

Results

All ten items of the SAS loaded onto a single latent factor, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.88. Correlations between the SAS and the SDQ were only modest, suggesting that the SAS measures different attributes to the SDQ. The SAS was significantly better than the SDQ at identifying ASDs.

Conclusion

Children and adolescents with low SAS scores are at increased risk of mental health problems, particularly ASDs.
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Metadata
Title
The Social Aptitudes Scale: an initial validation
Authors
Elizabeth B. Liddle
Martin J. Batty
Robert Goodman
Publication date
01-06-2009
Publisher
Steinkopff-Verlag
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 6/2009
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-008-0456-4

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