title: Divergence of Age-Related Differences in Social-Communication: Improvements for Typically Developing Youth but Declines for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: Although social-communication difficulties and repetitive behaviors are hallmark features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and persist across the lifespan, very few studies have compared age-related differences in these behaviors between youth with ASD and same-age typically developing (TD) peers. We examined this issue using SRS-2 (Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition) measures of social-communicative functioning and repetitive behaviors in a stratified cross-sectional sample of 324 youth with ASD in the absence of intellectual disability, and 438 TD youth (aged 4-29 years). An age-by-group interaction emerged indicating that TD youth exhibited age-related improvements in social-communication scores while the ASD group demonstrated age-related declines in these scores. This suggests that adolescents/adults with ASD may fall increasingly behind their same-age peers in social-communicative skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, 2115 G Street NW, Room 201, Washington, DC, 20052, USA. gwallac1@gwu.edu.|Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA. gwallac1@gwu.edu.
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Anthony
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Cara E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Pugliese
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Bako
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Orionzi
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Liv
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clasen
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy Raitano
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jay N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Giedd
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raznahan
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kenworthy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012917:Social Adjustment; D066107:Social Skills; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Age; Autism; Communication; Repetitive behavior; Social; Social Responsiveness Scale