Individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS), an autism spectrum disorder, are characterized by average to superior intelligence while at the same time experiencing severe and pervasive deficits in social interaction. While many individuals with AS report that they keenly desire social relationships, the combination of repeated social failures and intelligence sufficient to appreciate these difficulties increases the risk for developing depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns (Tantam, 1998; 2000). <p>Emotional intelligence (EI) is a construct that offers potential to understand individual emotional and social characteristics. The broad purpose of the two studies in this project was to examine ability and trait approaches to EI to understand if EI offers enriched understanding of social outcomes in AS. Further, this study explored EI, executive functions (EF), and theory of mind (ToM) to understand whether EI singularly or in combination with other theoretical explanations best accounts for social outcomes in individuals with AS. <p>The participants in this study were 25 young adults (aged 16-21) diagnosed with AS in Alberta and Manitoba. In study 1, trends and differences between AS and normative groups were examined. Further, correlation and multiple regression were employed to explore relationships amongst variables. Results indicated that trait EI was impaired for individuals with AS; however ability EI was intact. Regression analyses revealed that trait and ability EI together predicted 57% the variance for self-reported interpersonal skills and 31% of the variance for parent-reported social skills. Trait EI alone predicted 19% of the variance for self-reported social stress. <p>In study 2, EI, EF, and ToM were explored as predictors of social outcomes. Low correlations between EF and outcome variables precluded further analysis with this particular set of variables. Multiple regression procedures revealed that together ToM and trait EI predicted 33 % of the variance for self-reported Social Stress. The findings suggest that including ToM and EI measures in assessment protocols for individuals with AS provides important information to inform interventions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:SSU.etd-01022008-120107 |
| Date | 02 January 2008 |
| Creators | Montgomery, Janine Marie |
| Contributors | Schwean, Vicki L., Saklofske, Donald H., Noonan, Brian, Lupart, Judy, Hellsten, Laurie, Walker, Keith D. |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-01022008-120107/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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