title: Theory of mind, severity of autistic symptoms and parental correlates in children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome.
abstract: This study addresses the theory of mind (ToM) ability of Asperger's syndrome/high-functioning autism (AS/HFA) children and their parents and the severity of the autistic symptoms. Fifty-three families, each consisting of a mother, father and a child, participated in this study (N=159). The 53 children in the sample included 25 children diagnosed with AS/HFA and 28 typically developing (TD) children. The Social Attribution Task (SAT) and tests assessing autistic symptoms were used. AS/HFA children had lower scores than TD children on three of the SAT indices (Person, ToM Affective, and Salience). Fathers of AS/HFA children did not have lower scores than fathers of TD children on the SAT task, whereas mothers of AS/HFA children had lower scores on the Person index, a pattern similar to seen in their children, suggesting a possible genetic contribution of mothers to ToM deficit in AS/HFA children.
authors.affiliation: Beer-Yaacov Nes-Ziona Mental Health Center, Israel. Hagitnagar8@gmail.com
authors.forename: Hagit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagar Shimoni
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weizman
authors.forename: Roni Hegesh
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Yoran
authors.forename: Amiram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raviv
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012938:Social Perception; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D056345:Theory of Mind