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Early detection of social interaction problems: development of a social interaction instrument in young children
J K Ghuman1, L Freund, A Reiss
1Department of Psychiatry, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA.
Insights
The Ghuman-Folstein Screen for Social Interaction (SSI) is a reliable tool for assessing social skills in young children. It effectively identifies children with social interaction deficits, aiding early detection and intervention.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychiatry
- Pediatric Healthcare
Background:
- Children with developmental or psychiatric disorders frequently exhibit social interaction challenges.
- Early identification of social deficits is crucial for timely intervention and support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate the Ghuman-Folstein Screen for Social Interaction (SSI), a parent/caregiver questionnaire.
- To measure basic social interaction skills in preschool children across various contexts.
Main Methods:
- Administered the SSI to 51 clinically referred children and 60 healthy controls (ages 24-61 months).
- Assessed reliability (internal consistency, test-retest, interrater) and validity (external).
- Analyzed SSI scores to differentiate between clinical and control groups, and between autistic PDD and other developmental disorders.
Main Results:
- Established strong internal consistency and significant test-retest reliability for the SSI.
- Demonstrated moderate interrater reliability and support for external validity.
- SSI scores effectively differentiated clinically referred children from controls and identified autistic PDD.
Conclusions:
- The SSI is a simple, efficient, reliable, and valid measure for assessing social interaction capacity in children aged 2-5 years.
- The SSI can be valuable in primary care for identifying at-risk children needing further evaluation and services.
Abstract:
Children with developmental or psychiatric disorders often have problems with social interaction. This study reports on the development of the Ghuman-Folstein Screen for Social Interaction (SSI), a parent/caregiver questionnaire designed to measure the capacity for basic social interaction skills across a variety of contexts in preschool children. The SSI was administered to 51 clinically referred children with a high probability of deficits in social interaction and 60 healthy control subjects to establish reliability and validity. The children were 24 to 61 months of age, with diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Strong internal consistency, significant correlation for test/retest reliability, moderate correlation for interrater reliability and support for external validity of the SSI was established. The SSI scores differentiated between the clinically referred subjects and healthy control subjects and between children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) of the autistic type and other non-PDD developmental disorders. The SSI is a relatively simple, efficient, reliable, and valid measure for the capacity for basic social interaction skills in children 24 months to 5 years of age. The SSI has a potential to be useful in primary health care settings to identify children at risk who may need tracking and/or further evaluation and treatment services.