A Psychometric Evaluation of the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS) for Young Adults

The current study contributes to previous work on measuring the social phenotype in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by validating a multidimensional test of social competence developed for use with individuals with and without ASD. The “Multidimensional Social Competence Scale” (MSCS) was previously validated as a parent-rating scale with youth 11–18 years with ASD without intellectual disability and typically developing adolescents of comparable age. The current study presents a validation of a self-report version of the MSCS in a non-clinical young adult population (N = 1178, males = 360, females = 817, age range = 17– 25 years). The MSCS consists of seven domains that represent social competence: social motivation, social inferencing, demonstrating empathic concern, social knowledge, verbal conversation skills, nonverbal sending skills, and emotion regulation. These domains are theorized to be indicative of the higher-order construct of social competence. A second higher-order theorization of the MSCS structure posits that 3 of these factors are indicative of social responsiveness, and the remaining 4 factors are indicative of social understanding and emotion regulation. Our findings indicated support for each of the theorized multidimensional factor structures. Reliability, optimal scoring, convergent and discriminant validity of the measure, as well as implications for future research are discussed

Understanding social competence in autism spectrum disorders: The development of a standardized measure.

Autism and its related disorders are commonly described as lying along a continuum that ranges in severity and are collectively referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Despite the fact that all individuals with ASD meet the social impairment diagnostic criteria outlined in the DSM-IV-TR, they do not all present with the same social difficulties. The variability in the expression and severity of social competence is particularly evident among the group of individuals with “high functioning” ASD who appear to have difficulty applying their average to above average intelligence in a social context. There is a striking paucity of empirical research investigating individual differences in social functioning among individuals with high functioning ASD as well as the implications of these differences on long-term outcomes. It is possible that more detailed investigations of social competence within ASD have been impeded by the lack of standardized measures available to assess the nature and severity of social impairment. The current study aimed to develop and evaluate a parent rating scale capable of assessing individual differences in social competence (i.e., social strengths and weaknesses) among adolescents with ASD. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized multidimensional factor structure of the scale. Seven relatively distinct domains of social competence were identified including social motivation, social inferencing, demonstrating empathic concern, social knowledge, verbal conversation skills, nonverbal sending skills, and emotion regulation. Psychometric evidence provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the scale and included indices of internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, criterion-related validity, and known groups validity. Possible applications of this newly developed parent rating scale in both research and clinical settings are discussed

Alberta Printmaker's Society : Muttart Exhibition 1990

Includes statements by 20 juried artists, 11 invited artists from across Canada, and 5 award-winners. With brief introductory statements