Abstract
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate marked deficits in the ability to initiate, maintain and sustain meaningful social interaction. While the social-emotional deficits represent a core set of problems, persons with ASD also demonstrate significant problems in initiating, sustaining and maintaining appropriate goal directed behaviors. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a construct that has been successfully applied to a range of skills that allow for the prediction of competent human social behavior. Executive Functions (EF) refer to constructs involving cognitive abilities necessary for initiating, sustaining and maintaining purposeful goal-oriented behavior. While both children and adults with ASD have previously shown to have atypical patterns of EF skills, little is known about EI in either children or adults with ASD. Moreover, there is no study examining the relationship between EI and EF that has been reported in individuals with ASD. The current study examined the relationship between EF and EI in children with ASD. Twenty children with ASD were compared to twenty neurotypical children on self-report and clinical assessments of EI and EF. Although the relationship between EF and EI was not statistically significant, results showed that children with ASD have deficits in interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills and overall EI when compared to their neurotypical peers. These results suggest that EF and EI are relatively independent domains of development that show compromise in persons with ASD and each may be necessary to support typical socially directed behaviors.
Highlights
Social interaction deficiencies and communication problems are among the most pronounced in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Baron-Cohen, Leslie & Frith, 1995) [1] and often the first area of intervention for practitioners
There is no study examining the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Executive Functions (EF) that has been reported in individuals with ASD
The current study examined the relationship between EF and EI in children with ASD
Summary
Social interaction deficiencies and communication problems are among the most pronounced in children with ASD (Baron-Cohen, Leslie & Frith, 1995) [1] and often the first area of intervention for practitioners. Children with ASD often play alone, have difficulty in initiating and sustaining play with other children, and show limitations in social imagination (Seitz, Travis & Sigman, 2005) [2]. The somatic marker hypothesis suggests that deficits in the emotional signaling functional system (somatic states) lead to poor judgment in decision-making, especially in the personal and social realms (Bar-On, Tranel, Denburg & Bechara, 2003) [4]. This system is necessary to facilitate social interaction, imaginative activities, and the use of emotions for social communication and has been hypothesized to comprise an area of social abilities known as emotional intelligence (EI)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
