Development of the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale: initial validation in autism spectrum disorder and in neurotypicals

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this paper was to provide an initial validation of a newly developed parent questionnaire—the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale (SSDS), designed to capture individual differences across several key social dimensions including social motivation in children and adolescents with and without psychiatric disorders.MethodsThe initial validation sample was comprised of parents of 175 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (35 females, 140 males; Mage = 7.19 years, SDage = 3.96) and the replication sample consisted of 624 parents of children who were either typically developing or presented with a range of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders (302 females, 322 males; Mage = 11.49 years, SDage = 4.48). Parents from both samples completed the SSDS and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2).ResultsExploratory Structural Equation Modeling indicated that a 5-factor model provided adequate to excellent fit to the data in the initial ASD sample (comparative fit index [CFI] = .940, Tucker-Lewis Index [TLI] = .919, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .048, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = .038). The identified factors were interpreted as Social Motivation, Social Affiliation, Expressive Social Communication, Social Recognition, and Unusual Approach. This factor structure was further confirmed in Sample 2 (CFI = 946, TLI = .930, RMSEA = .044, SRMR = .026). Internal consistency for all subscales was in the good to excellent range across both samples as indicated by Composite Reliability scores of ≥ .72. Convergent and divergent validity was strong as indexed by the pattern of correlations with relevant SRS-2 and Child Behavior Checklist domains and with verbal and non-verbal intellectual functioning scores in Sample 1 and with the Need to Belong Scale and Child Social Preference Scale scores in Sample 2. Across both samples, females had higher social motivation and expressive social communication scores. Discriminant validity was strong given that across all SSDS subscales, the ASD sample had significantly higher impairment than both the typically developing group and the group with other clinical conditions, which in turn, had significantly higher impairment than the typically developing group.ConclusionsOur findings provide initial validation of a new scale designed to comprehensively capture individual differences in social motivation and other key social dimensions in ASD.

Domains of the autism phenotype, cognitive control, and rumination as transdiagnostic predictors of DSM-5 suicide risk

“…Although our findings were generally consistent with the literature and theoretical background, it will be important to replicate our findings taking into consideration these methodological limitations. Future research will benefit from administration of cognitive assessments to better elucidate the effect of cognitive processes on suicide risk and more comprehensive, questionnaire and performance-based quantitative measures designed to capture strengths and weaknesses across different domains of social functioning, such as the SEL web [ 83 ] and the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale [ 84 ]. Suicide risk was assessed using the DSM-5 suicidal ideation screener incorporated into the cross-cutting symptom measure [ 67 , 85 ], which was selected as it is relatively straightforward to administer using large scale online methodology, and because the presence of suicidal ideation has been shown to increase the likelihood of a suicide attempt [ 86 ].…”

Exploring Social Subtypes in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study

“…There is pronounced heterogeneity in the social phenotype across the autism spectrum, with individuals presenting with varying profiles of strengths and weakness across different social processes. Our study utilized the SSDS [Phillips et al, 2019], a newly developed measure of social processes, to explore whether differences across particular social domains can be used to identify distinct ASD subgroups. Five profiles were identified.…”

“…The SSDS is a 58-item dimensional measure designed to provide parental perspective on their child's social abilities. Initial factorization returned a five-factor solution with factors interpreted as Social Motivation (SM), Social affiliation (SA), Expressive Social Communication (ESC), Social Recognition (SR), and Unusual Approach (UA) [Phillips et al, 2019]. The scale has been shown to have a good construct, divergent, and convergent validity and good to excellent reliability as indicated by Composite Reliability Index scores of 0.90, 0.80, 0.74, 0.85, and 0.72 for SM, SA, ESC, SR, and UA factors.…”

Complex Interplay Between Cognitive Ability and Social Motivation in Predicting Social Skill: A Unique Role for Social Motivation in Children With Autism

“…These measures were therefore subjective in nature and could have generated “floor” or “ceiling” effects when administered to both ASD and non‐ASD participants. Second, the Social Motivation Subscale of the SRS is clinically derived, does not comprehensively capture individual differences in social motivation [Frazier et al, 2014; Phillips et al, 2019], and does not assess manifestations of social motivation such as social orienting and social seeking/liking [Chevallier et al, 2012]. Moreover, specific traits used to measure social motivation can potentially have alternative explanations (e.g., gaze avoidance following eye contact could be due to anxiety rather than a lack of social interest) [Jaswal & Akhtar, 2019].…”

“…Finally, the SRS's Social Motivation Subscale does not enable differentiation of social motivational impairment from a more global motivational deficit [Clements et al, 2018]. There is thus growing scientific interest in developing a more sensitive and specific measure of this construct [Phillips et al, 2019]. Future work should confirm the present study's findings using a more refined measure of social motivation, as well as more objective behavioral tasks that directly measure social motivation as well as social skill in ASD and non‐ASD participants.…”