A coping subscale for autistic children: Revisiting the dimensionality of the emotion regulation and social skills questionnaire

Abstract

BackgroundAutistic children often struggle with emotion regulation and social interaction. Brief measures of a child’s coping skill needs are valuable in community mental health settings, where time and resources are limited. However, the construct of coping is often not clearly defined and varies widely within emotion regulation measures, limiting clinical utility. This study aimed to clarify the dimensionality of the Emotion Regulation and Social Skills Questionnaire – Parent (ERSSQ-P), a single-factor, parent report measure developed to assess social-emotional competence in autistic children. Method/ResultsExploratory Item Factor Analysis was conducted with a multi-site, pre-treatment sample of parent-reported data for 186 autistic children (Mage = 9.77 years, SD = 1.32). A three-factor solution was identified as the most appropriate fit, across domains of emotion regulation (Coping: a child’s ability to modulate distressing feelings in stressful contexts) and social competence (Initiating: ability to appropriately initiate interactions with other children; Interacting: overall ability to engage in and maintain social interactions). Sum score internal consistency was good for Coping and Initiating (α = .84/ω = .84; α = .87/ω = .90), and acceptable for Interacting (α = .75/ω = .73). Validity for the subscales was confirmed based on associations with measures of emotion regulation, depression and social communication. ConclusionsThe revised structure of the ERSSQ-P targets separate areas where strengths and needs may occur for autistic children, with the potential to assist clinicians to improve assessment and treatment tailoring to meet the specific emotional, social and behavioral needs of children in their care.