2021•Journal of Autism and Developmental DisordersOpen access
Relations of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors to Social Skills in Toddlers with Autism
Pang Chaxiong, Catherine A. Burrows, Kelly N. Botteron, Stephen R. Dager, Annette Estes, Heather C. Hazlett, Robert T. Schultz, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Joseph Piven, Jason J. Wolff, IBIS Network, Joseph Piven, Heather C. Hazlett, C. Chappell, M. Shen, Meghan R. Swanson, Stephen R. Dager, Annette Estes, Dennis Shaw, Tanya St. John, Kelly N. Botteron, John N. Constantino, Robert T. Schultz, J. Pandey, Annette Estes, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Jed T. Elison, Jason J. Wolff, Martin Styner, Guido Gerig, R. McKinstry, J. R. Pruett, Alan C. Evans, D. Louis Collins, Vladimir Fonov, Leigh MacIntyre, Saptarshi Das, Hongbin Gu, K. Truong, Heather E. Volk, Dani Fallin, M. Shen
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Abstract
We examined the relations of restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB; insistence on sameness, repetitive sensory-motor, self-injurious behavior) to social skills overall and aspects that comprise social skills as measured by the VABS-II (coping skills, play/leisure time, interpersonal relationships) in 24- (n = 63) and 36-month old (n = 35), high-familial-risk toddlers with ASD. Hierarchical linear regression results indicated that repetitive sensory-motor was the best predictor of social skills overall. Secondary results indicated that all three RRB subtypes were associated with each subdomain of social skills; however, repetitive sensory-motor was the strongest and most consistent among these effects. While our results suggests a general negative relation of subtypes of RRB to aspects of adaptive social function, repetitive sensory-motor behaviors may be of particular relevance to the development of social skills during toddlerhood.
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