2017 年 6 巻 1 号 p. 1-9
We investigated the relationships between early social-communication behaviors and maladaptive behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Fifty-three children with both intellectual disabilities and developmental disorders including ASD participated in the current study. The results of a stepwise multiple regression showed that frequency of initiating joint attention and rate of positive affect expression were independent negative predictors of internalizing problems; severity of ASD symptom and frequency of requests were positive predictors, and rate of positive affect expression was a negative predictor, of v-scale score for externalizing problems. These results demonstrated that different types of early social-communication behaviors influence different kinds of maladaptive behaviors in children with ASD. In particular, positive affect expression with communication was a negative predictor of both internalizing and externalizing problems. It is critical that we explore how maladaptive behaviors develop in children with ASD, with a particular focus on the development of early social-communication.
