Table 2.

Narrative discourse analysis (NAP) and group comparisons

NAP	Group comparison	p value
Topic maintenance	ASD < LM = CAM	ASD < CAM p < 0.001
		ASD < LM p = 0.001
		LM = CAM p = 1.0
Explicitness	ASD < LM < CAM	ASD < CAM p < 0.001
		ASD < LM p = 0.021
		LM < CAM p = 0.004
Event sequencing	ASD < LM = CAM	ASD < CAM p < 0.001
		ASD < LM p = 0.001
		LM = CAM, p = 0.16
Referencing	ASD = LM < CAM	ASD < CAM p < 0.001
		ASD = LM p = 0.982
		LM < CAM, p < 0.01
Conjunctive cohesion	ASD < LM < CAM	ASD < CAM p < 0.001
		ASD < LM p = 0.049
		LM < CAM p = 0.013
Fluency	ASD < LM = CAM	ASD < CAM p < 0.001
		ASD < LM p < 0.001
		LM = CAM p = 1.0
NAP total	ASD < LM < CAM	ASD < CAM p < 0.001
		ASD < LM p = 0.004
		LM < CAM p = 0.007

ASD autism spectrum disorder, CAM chronological age-matched group, LM matched on receptive and expressive language ability