The Relationship Between Social Communication and Social Functioning in Pediatric TBI: A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Pediatric Neurology

Background:

• Social communication deficits are common in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• Existing assessment tools for social communication in pediatric TBI lack a gold standard.
• The Social Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) is a potential tool for evaluating these difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Social Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) for detecting social communication impairments in pediatric TBI.
• To investigate the relationship between SCDC-assessed social communication and social functioning in children with TBI.
• To correlate SCDC findings with parental behavior ratings and objective social cognition measures.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving 16 children with pediatric TBI and 20 healthy controls (HCs).
• Participants underwent neuropsychological evaluation, including the SCDC and Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) for parents.
• Pediatric subjects completed a Theory of Mind (ToM) task to assess social cognition.

Main Results:

• The pediatric TBI group scored significantly lower on the SCDC compared to HCs (p=0.001).
• In the TBI group, SCDC scores correlated significantly with BASC-2 ratings and ToM task performance.
• Lower parent-rated social communication correlated with poorer objective social cognition in children with TBI.

Conclusions:

• Preliminary evidence suggests children with TBI experience social communication difficulties.
• The SCDC effectively identifies these difficulties in pediatric TBI.
• SCDC scores show a correlation with both subjective and objective measures of social cognition and behavior in pediatric TBI.