TABLE 3.
Characteristics of special population cross-sectional studies.
| “Special populations” | ||||||||
| Cross-sectional | ||||||||
| Author | Year | Country | N | Age when SC measured | Age when mental health measured | Special population | SC measure | Results |
| Eadie et al. (38) | 2021 | Australia | 41 | 9.4 (SD = 1.6) years | 9.4 (SD = 1.6) years | Social, emotional and behavioral difficulties | CCC-2 (stand.; teach) | In the small sample of 15 measured with the teacher version of the CCC-2, no significant correlation was found between the Social Interaction Difference Index Score and any SDQ score. |
| Parke et al. (39) | 2021 | United States | 50 | 10.57 (SD = 2.09) years | 10.57 (SD = 2.09) years | ADHD | CCC-2 (stand.; par.) | Pragmatic language skills were significantly correlated with externalizing behavior (0.59) and behavioral symptoms of ADHD (0.74), and with declines in adaptive skills (−0.74), even after controlling for social cognition. Pragmatic language and cognitive empathy explained a substantial amount of variance in problematic and adaptive behaviors (R2 = 0.51). |
| James et al. (40) | 2020 | Australia | 54 | 13.03 years | 13.03 years | Emotional and behavioral difficulties | ERRNI (41) (stand.; dir.) NSS (42) (stand.; dir.) | Individuals with emotional and behavioral difficulties scored significantly lower on narrative skills and SC compared to typically developing students. In the full sample, SC was found to be significantly correlated with SDQ emotional (−0.422), SDQ peer problems (−0.293), SDQ externalizing behavior (−0.462), Conners-3 aggression (−0.354), and Conners-3 peer relationships (−0.386). |
| Mewhort-Buist and Nilsen (43) | 2019 | Canada | 169 | 10.6 years (SD = 6 months) | 10.6 years (SD = 6 months) | Shyness | 12 story scenarios vignettes (44) (non-stand.; dir.) | In shyer children, better irony comprehension was related to increased loneliness (β = 0.581) and depression symptoms (β = 0.678), and to fewer prosocial peer experiences (β = −0.460). |
| Brenne and Riemehau (45) | 2019 | Norway | 73 | 8–13 years | 8–13 years | Outpatient population of child psychiatric clinic | CCC (stand.; par.; teach) | Children with parent-reported pragmatic language impairment had significantly higher symptom scores on four Child Behavior Checklist scales: Anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, social problems, and thought problems. Pragmatic language correlated significantly with the domains anxious/depressed (0.34), withdrawn/depressed (0.32), social problems (0.47), thought problems (0.38), and attention problems (0.20). |
| Hollo et al. (46) | 2019 | United States | 46 | 12.2 (SD = 2.5) years | 12.2 (SD = 2.5) years | Emotional disturbance | CASL pragmatics (47) (stand.; dir.) | Pragmatic scores were lower in all subgroups of emotional or behavioral difficulties (internalizing, externalizing, and both) than the scores for receptive and expressive language. The internalizing group was superior in expressive, receptive language, and pragmatics, with the lowest scores in pragmatics. |
| Halls et al. (48) | 2015 | England | 404 | 10.13 (SD = 1.6) years | 10.13 (SD = 1.6) years | Social Anxiety Disorder | SCQ (stand.; par.) | Significantly higher deficits across all SC domains (social interaction, communication) were found in children with social anxiety disorders, as compared to other anxiety disorders. |
| Roy and Chiat (49) | 2014 | England | 91 | 10.5 years (SD = 6.74 months) | 2.5–4; 4–5; and 10.5 years | Language difficulties | Social Responsiveness Scale (50) (stand.; par.) | All children with SC problems (combined with language difficulties or not) had higher SDQ total difficulties scores than those without SC difficulties. SC scores and SDQ scores were significantly correlated (0.78). |
| Law et al. (51) | 2014 | Scotland | 138 | 8.9 (SD = 1.9) years | 8.9 (SD = 1.9) years | Socially disadvantaged background | CCC-2 (stand.; teach) | Pragmatic difficulties mediated the effects of language skills on emotional problems (85.1% mediated), peer problems (87%), and the SDQ total difficulties score (66%) after controlling for IQ and sex. |
| Mackie and Law (52) | 2014 | Scotland | 77 | 10.12 years | 10.12 years | Emotional/behavioral difficulties | CCC-2 (stand.; teach) | Significantly lower CCC-2 composite and subscale scores were found for the group of boys with externalizing behavior, relative to the control group. |
| Nilsen et al. (53) | 2013 | Canada | 53 | 8.01 (SD = 1.1) years | 8.01 (SD = 1.1) years | ADHD | CCC-2 (stand.; par.) | Pragmatic impairment was found to be significantly correlated with ADHD symptoms, inattention (0.83), hyperactivity/impulsivity (0.79), and executive functioning (0.75), even after controlling for child’s age and receptive vocabulary. |
| Gilmour et al. (54) | 2004 | England | 55 | 10.2 years (SD = 2.7 months) | 10.2 years (SD = 2.7 months) | Conduct or pervasive developmental disorders | CCC (stand.; par.) | Of the children with conduct disorder, two-thirds had very high rates of SC problems (in the clinical range)—a comparable rate to that of children with ASD. SC was not significantly related to Verbal IQ or Performance IQ. |
ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder; CASL, Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language; CCC, Children’s Communication Checklist; CCC-2, Children’s Communication Checklist 2nd Edition; dir., direct assessment; non-stand., non-standardized; NSS, Narrative Scoring Scheme; par., parent reported; self, self-assessment; SC, Social Communication; SCQ, Social Communication Disorder; SDQ, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; stand., standardized; teach., teacher reported.