Self-perceptions, parent-perceptions, and meta-perceptions of the interpersonal efficacy of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Background How do adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) perceive their interpersonal skills and are these “self-efficacy perceptions” accurate? And how do they perceive that their parents perceive their interpersonal skills and are these “meta-perceptions” accurate? Method We used the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Efficacy to assess self-perceptions and parent-perceptions of the efficacy of adolescents with ASD (n = 22) and without ASD (n = 22) for a broad set of social behaviors varying in agency (from assertive and controlling to timid and yielding) and varying in communion (from friendly and cooperative to wary and distancing). We also assessed adolescents’ meta-perceptions of their parents’ perceptions, and parents’ meta-perceptions of the adolescents’ perceptions. Results Parents of adolescents with ASD lacked confidence in their child's interpersonal skills (especially to connect with and lead others), but correctly predicted that their children would express more confidence than they did. Indeed, adolescents with ASD felt as efficacious as control adolescents and did not realize the degree to which their parents did not share their confidence. Nonetheless, adolescents with ASD and control adolescents did show similar levels of child-parent agreement and meta-perception accuracy regarding the adolescent's relative strengths/weaknesses. Conclusions Adolescents with ASD were overconfident, which may protect them from feeling discouraged, but ultimately only if they engage in activities and interventions that can improve their social skills. The observed agreement regarding an adolescent's relative strengths/weaknesses may enable parents and professionals to use relative strengths to bolster adolescents’ confidence while simultaneously working with them on their relative weaknesses.