Characterising the social interaction style of autism in young adult males with fragile X syndrome.
C Moser, A Campanelli, L Friedman and 4 others
PMID 38258970WHAT IT FOUND
Young men with fragile X syndrome and autism split evenly between active and passive social styles.
Crucially, neither style predicted their cognitive, language, or adaptive skills. A passive presentation does not mean lower ability; do not underestimate a patient's capacity based on how they initiate social interaction.
Key findings
01Participants with fragile X syndrome and autism were nearly equally likely to show active (51%) or passive (49%) social interaction styles during assessment.
02There were no significant differences between the active and passive subgroups in intellectual ability, language skills, adaptive skills, autism symptom severity, ADHD symptoms, or anxiety symptoms.
03Social interaction style was not prognostic of cognitive, adaptive, or language abilities, or the severity of autism traits.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only included males, so findings may not apply to females with fragile X syndrome. Social interaction style was assessed only during the ADOS-2, a semi-structured clinical setting. A patient's style may vary in different social contexts or with familiar people. The sample size was relatively small (41 participants), which may limit the detection of subtle differences between groups. The classification of social style was dichotomised into active and passive, whereas social interaction likely exists on a continuum. All participants had intellectual disabilities (IQs < 50), so results do not generalise to individuals with fragile X syndrome without significant cognitive impairment.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of difference in anxiety symptoms between active and passive groups as evidence that social anxiety is absent in this population. The study found that the *style* of interaction did not predict anxiety *severity* scores, but this does not mean the passive group was not anxious. It simply means anxiety levels were similar across both groups, so you cannot use social style as a screen for anxiety risk.