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开发关键安全和关系技能领域来改进评估 验证一种新型测量电池。评估这些领域的敏感和客观的工具是非常 有限的。这种缺乏既定的测量工具对有效性和 重要安全干预措施和关系技能协议的有效性，特别是对特定人群的有效性 容易受到负面结果的影响，例如患有自闭症(AA)的成年人。经济、情感和 未能为个人安全有效地驾驭人际关系做好充分准备的有形成本 在许多诊断中都得到了证实。有效地测量相关行为-例如导航 公共/私人边界，识别其他人何时对关系感兴趣，确定 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--这是准确描述AA和其他成年人面临的挑战所必需的关键任务 在社会困难的情况下，跟踪随着时间的推移和对成人社交技能干预的反应而取得的进展。 我们提出了一系列基于性能的工具，通过行为、眼球跟踪、 以及对社会信息的心理生理反应。这一论断的力量在于 选定的工具(例如，行为反应、跟踪眼球运动和心率)及其生态有效性 (例如，模仿日常体验，如使用互联网、浏览约会应用程序，以及参与各种 关系类型)。拟议项目的总期限为三年。测量电池将是 在两个时间点(相隔3个月)向总共200名成年人(100名AA，100名非自闭症成年人)展示。我们 有三个目标：(1)研究收购机管局拟议措施的可行性；(2)评估 评估再生障碍症和非自闭症群体的社交困难的效用；及(3) 通过检查(3a)短期稳定性、(3b)收敛有效性来验证用于临床试验的措施 和(3c)展示其作为目标参与措施的效用 通过确认它们与浪漫和性功能的结果指标的相关性。实现这些目标 将为研究人员提供一种新的工具包，用于测量社会认知、行为和生理 对再生障碍性贫血干预计划的反应变化，最终对具有类似安全性和 人际关系技能缺陷(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).