Emotion comprehension and sociocognitive skills in children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders

This study aimed to compare sociocognitive skills and emotion comprehension between children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with neurotypical development.

This quantitative, cross-sectional, controlled study involved 19 children in each group, matched by age (6-12 years) and sex. The assessments examined cognitive aspects (Intelligence Quotient was assessed using the Vocabulary and Matrix Reasoning subtests; working memory using the digit span and letter-number sequencing subtests; attention using the Continuous Performance Test - Identical Pairs; and executive functions using the Trail Making Test), social functions (Children's Social Skills, Behavior Problems, and Academic Competence Inventory), and emotion comprehension (language was assessed using the Strange Stories Test; emotional facial expressions using the digital emotion comprehension test; emotional/affective prosody using the Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication - Brazilian Portuguese adapted version).

The group with ASD exhibited better performance in executive functions (p = 0.02). However, they lagged the control group in social skills (p = 0.04), behavior problems (p = 0.03), and emotion comprehension (language, facial expressions, and prosody) (all p < 0.05).

The findings indicate that children with ASD have diminished performance in social skills and emotion comprehension compared to children with neurotypical development. Therefore, the development of technologies and/or therapeutic interventions that address these deficits among children with ASD is recommended.