Abstract
Background: The idea of latent social skills in autism emerged as a possible interpretation of the rapid (but temporary) improvement of autistic subjects in oxytocin studies. We tested a hypothesis that a normal response to Item No 59 "Secure Base" from the third version of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADIR- 59) could indicate the presence of latent social skills in autism.
Methods: We examined 110 autistic children (88 boys and 22 girls) with a mean age of 6.0 +/- 2.5 years (range: 2.2- 14.8 years) using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Generic. A diagnosis of mental retardation was established in 68 autistic children (62%).
Results: The difference in the ADOS social domain between children aged <= 5 years on one side and children older than 5 years on the other side was significant in subjects with normal responses to ADIR- 59 (9.60 vs 6.47; P= 0.031) but not in those with abnormal responses to ADIR- 59 (10.62 vs 9.63; P= 0.537). In a predictive model, lower ADOS social domain scores were predicted by older age (P= 0.001), lower scores on the ADIR- 59 (P= 0.01), and the absence of mental retardation (P= 0.049).
Conclusion: The results support the hypothesis that the normal response to item ADIR- 59 "Secure Base" indicates the presence of latent social skills in autism that might foretell further social growth in older autistic subjects.