Good social skills despite poor theory of mind: Exploring compensation in autism spectrum disorder

Livingston, Lucy Anne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8597-6525, Colvert, Emma, the Social Relationships Study Team, Bolton, Patrick and Happé, Francesca 2019. Good social skills despite poor theory of mind: Exploring compensation in autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 60 (1) , pp. 102-110. 10.1111/jcpp.12886

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Abstract

Background It is proposed that some individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can ‘compensate’ for their underlying difficulties (e.g. in theory of mind; ToM), thus demonstrating relatively few behavioural symptoms, despite continued core cognitive deficits. The mechanisms underpinning compensation are largely unexplored, as is its potential impact on mental health. This study aimed to estimate compensation patterns in ASD, by contrasting overt social behaviour with ToM task performance, in order to compare the characteristics of ‘Low’ and ‘High’ Compensators. Methods A total of 136 autistic adolescents, from the ongoing Social Relationships Study, completed a range of cognitive tasks, the Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and a self‐report anxiety questionnaire. Participants were assigned compensation group status; High Compensators demonstrated good ADOS scores despite poor ToM performance, while Low Compensators demonstrated similarly poor ToM, accompanied by poor ADOS scores. Results High Compensators demonstrated better IQ and executive function (EF), but greater self‐reported anxiety, compared with Low Compensators. Such differences were not found when comparing individuals who had good versus poor ADOS scores, when ToM performance was good. Other core autistic characteristics (weak central coherence, nonsocial symptoms) did not differentiate the High and Low Compensators. Conclusions IQ, EF and anxiety appear to be implicated in the processes by which certain autistic young people can compensate for their underlying ToM difficulties. This tendency to compensate does not appear to reflect the severity of ‘hit’ for ASD per se, suggesting that well‐compensated individuals are not experiencing a milder form of ASD. The construct of compensation in ASD has implications for research and clinical practice.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Additional Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0021-9630
Funders:	MRC UK
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 November 2019
Date of Acceptance:	26 January 2018
Last Modified:	03 May 2023 20:11
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/126937

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