title: Assessing the sensitivity of the evaluation of social interaction: comparing social skills in children with and without disabilities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the sensitivity of the Evaluation of Social Interaction (ESI) as a measure of the overall quality of social interaction in children as they engage in social exchanges in a natural context with typical social partners.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the ESI measures of 23 children with disabilities with those of 23 children without disabilities, matched by age and gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Paired t-test analysis revealed a statistically significant difference, t(22) = -4.065, p = .001, in the quality of social interaction for the two groups of children, indicating sensitivity of the ESI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results support the use of the ESI to measure quality of social interaction in a natural context.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of New Hampshire, Hewitt Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA. louann.griswold@unh.edu
authors.forename: Lou Ann
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Griswold
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Townsend
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation; D012919:Social Behavior