Distinct profiles of social skill in adults with autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia.
Autism and schizophrenia both hurt social skills, but autism cuts back-and-forth talk while schizophrenia cuts facial and eye cues.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Morrison et al. (2017) watched adults with autism, schizophrenia, and typical development during a short role-play.
The team coded each person’s eye contact, facial expressions, and back-and-forth conversation moves.
They wanted to see if the two clinical groups show the same social problems or different ones.
What they found
Both autism and schizophrenia groups looked less skilled than typical adults, but in different ways.
Autism adults started fewer back-and-forth turns and stayed on topic less.
Schizophrenia adults showed more flat faces and odd eye patterns, even when they talked smoothly.
How this fits with other research
Al-Yagon et al. (2022) extends this picture: almost half of autistic adults scored in the normal range on social-cognitive tests, while low performers looked alike across diagnoses.
Benson et al. (2016) and Santos et al. (2012) used eye trackers and found that autistic adults need extra looks and extra time to spot social oddities or emotional cues.
These studies do not clash with E et al.; they simply zoom in on the attention step that happens before the skill problems seen in the role-play.
Why it matters
If you test social skills, do not assume one profile fits every client. Use quick eye-tracking or role-play probes to see whether the main gap is reciprocity (common in autism) or flat affect and gaze (common in schizophrenia). Then write goals that match the profile you see.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Overlapping social impairments in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Schizophrenia (SCZ) contributed to decades of diagnostic confusion that continues to this day in some clinical settings. The current study provides the first direct and detailed comparison of social behavior in the two disorders by identifying profiles of social skill in adults with ASD (n = 54), SCZ (n = 54), and typically developing (TD) controls (n = 56) during a real-world social interaction. ASD and SCZ groups exhibited poorer social skill, both overall and on most discrete abilities, relative to the TD group. Direct comparison of ASD to SCZ revealed distinct behavioral profiles, with ASD uniquely characterized by fewer interactive behaviors, and SCZ characterized by greater impaired gaze and flat/inappropriate affective responses. Additionally, IQ was associated with both overall social skill and many discrete social skills in SCZ, but was largely unrelated to social skill in ASD. These results indicate that overlapping social deficits in ASD and SCZ are comprised of both shared and distinct social skill impairments. The largest distinctions-reduced social reciprocity but better expressivity in ASD relative to SCZ, and a greater role of IQ in social skill for SCZ than ASD-highlight disorder-specific features that can improve etiological understanding, diagnostic differentiation, and treatment strategies. Autism Res 2017, 10: 878-887. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2017 · doi:10.1002/aur.1734