Validation of a novel measurement battery of relationship and safety skills for adults with and without autism spectrum disorder

在这项研究中，我们试图通过开发和 验证一种新的测量电池。评估这些领域的敏感和客观的工具是非常有用的。 有限公司这种缺乏既定的测量工具对疗效研究构成了严重挑战， 重要的安全干预措施和关系技能协议的有效性，特别是对于独特的人群 容易受到负面结果的影响，例如自闭症谱系（AA）的成年人。经济上，情感上， 未能为个人安全有效地驾驭关系做好充分准备的物质成本， 在许多诊断中得到证实。有效地测量相关行为-例如导航 公共/私人边界，认识到当别人对一段关系感兴趣时， 潜在合作伙伴的可信度，判断安全情况，使用间接沟通，并采取 从他人的角度来看，是一项关键的任务，需要准确地描述AA和其他成年人的挑战 与社会困难，并跟踪进展都随着时间的推移，并在应对成人社会技能干预。 我们提出了一系列基于性能的工具，通过行为，眼动跟踪， 以及对社会信息的心理生理反应。这种电池的力量是客观的， 选择的工具（例如，行为反应，跟踪眼球运动和心率）及其生态有效性 (i.e.,模仿日常经验，如使用互联网，导航约会应用程序，并参与各种 的关系）。拟议项目的总长度为三年。测量电池将 在两个时间点（相隔3个月）向总共200名成年人（100名AA，100名无自闭症的成年人）提供。我们 目的有三：（1）研究机管局收购建议措施的可行性;（2）评估 评估AA和非ASD组的社交困难的测量组合的效用，以及（3） 通过检查（3a）其短期稳定性，（3b）收敛效度， 与一般社会功能的措施，和（3c）证明他们的效用作为措施的目标参与 通过证实他们与浪漫和性功能的结果测量的相关性。实现这些目标 将为研究人员提供一个新颖的工具包，用于测量社会认知、行为和生理 对AA干预计划的反应变化，最终，具有相似安全性和 关系技能缺陷（例如，智力残疾、多动症、社交焦虑、精神分裂症）。

In this study, we seek to improve assessment of critical safety and relationship skill domains by developing and validating a novel measurement battery. Sensitive and objective tools that assess these domains are extremely limited. This lack of established measurement tools poses a critical challenge to studies of the efficacy and effectiveness of important safety interventions and relationship skill protocols, especially for populations uniquely vulnerable to negative outcomes, such as adults on the autism spectrum (AA). The financial, emotional, and physical costs of failing to adequately prepare individuals to navigate relationships safely and effectively has been demonstrated across many diagnoses. Effectively measuring related behaviors—such as navigating public/private boundaries, recognizing when others are interested in a relationship, determining the trustworthiness of potential partners, judging situations for safety, using indirect communication, and taking the perspective of others—is a critical task needed to accurately characterize the challenges of AA and other adults with social difficulties and to track progress both over time and in response to adult social skills interventions. We propose a battery of performance-based tools that target these skill domains via behavioral, eye tracking, and psychophysiological responses to social information. The strength of this battery is the objectivity of the chosen tools (e.g., behavioral responses, tracking eye movements, and heart rate) and their ecological validity (i.e., mimicking everyday experiences such as using the internet, navigating dating apps, and engaging in various types of relationships). The total length of the proposed project is three years. The measurement battery will be presented at two time points (3 months apart) to a total of 200 adults (100 AA, 100 adults without autism). We have three aims: (1) To examine the feasibility of acquisition of the proposed measures for AA; (2) To assess the utility of the measurement battery for assessing social difficulties of the AA and non-ASD groups, and (3) To validate the measures for use in clinical trials by examining (3a) their short term stability, (3b) convergent validity with a measure of general social functioning, and (3c) demonstrate their utility as measures of target engagement by confirming their correlation to outcome measures of romantic and sexual functioning. Achieving these aims will provide a novel toolkit for investigators to use to measure social cognitive, behavioral, and physiological changes in response to intervention programs for AA and, ultimately, populations with similar safety and relationship skills deficits (e.g., intellectual disability, ADHD, social anxiety, schizophrenia).