Impairments in social functioning are considered a hallmark diagnostic feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet, individuals diagnosed with ASD vary widely with respect to specific presentation, severity, and course across different dimensions of this complex symptom domain. The aim of this investigation was to utilize the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale (SSDS), a newly developed quantitative measure providing parental perspective on their child's social abilities, in order to explore the existence of homogeneous subgroups of ASD individuals who share unique profiles across specific dimensions of the social domain. Parents of 164 individuals with ASD (35 females, 129 males; mean_age = 7.54 years, SD = 3.85) completed the SSDS, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS‐2) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Data on children's verbal and nonverbal intellectual functioning (FSIQ) were also collected. The Latent Profile Analysis was used to classify participants according to the pattern of SSDS subscale scores (Social Motivation, Social Affiliation, Expressive Social Communication, Social Recognition, and Unusual Approach). Five profiles were identified. Profiles did not differ in terms of chronological age nor gender distribution but showed distinct patterns of strengths and weaknesses across different social components rather than simply reflecting a severity gradient. Profiles were further differentiated in terms of cognitive ability, as well as ASD and internalizing symptom severity. The implications of current findings and the necessary further steps toward identifying subgroups of individuals with ASD who share particular constellation of strengths and weaknesses across key social domains as a way of informing personalized interventions are discussed. Autism Res 2020. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

中文翻译：

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探索自闭症谱系障碍的社会亚型：初步研究。

社会功能障碍被认为是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的标志性诊断特征。然而，诊断为ASD的个体在此复杂症状域的不同维度上的具体表现，严重程度和病程方面差异很大。这项调查的目的是利用斯坦福大学的社会维度量表（SSDS），这是一种新近开发的定量测量方法，提供了父母对孩子的社交能力的看法，以便探讨在特定维度上共享独特档案的ASD个人的同质亚群的存在。社会领域的。164名自闭症患者的父母（35名女性，129名男性；平均_年龄= 7.54岁，SD = 3.85）完成了SSDS，社交反应量表（SRS-2）和儿童行为清单（CBCL）。还收集了有关儿童言语和非言语智力功能（FSIQ）的数据。潜在特征分析用于根据SSDS子量表分数模式（社会动机，社会归属，表达性社会沟通，社会认可和不寻常方法）对参与者进行分类。确定了五个配置文件。概况在时间顺序和性别分布上没有差异，但在不同的社会组成部分显示出不同的优势和劣势模式，而不是简单地反映出严重程度梯度。在认知能力，ASD和内在症状严重程度方面进一步区分了概况。自闭症 2020年。©2020国际自闭症研究协会，Wiley Periodicals，Inc.。