Introduction

There is no proper blueprint for what ‘normal’ social development is, and there is no metric that can gauge it either. When viewed from a scientific perspective, exhibited behaviour must be translated from observed actions and responses into data that can be compared between other individuals.

Converting social skills into quantifiable (countable) data is one way to measure and compare behavioural data between multiple people within a scientific setting. Whilst they are not exclusively used as criteria for measuring neurodivergence, they provide a good indicator of brain development throughout different stages of childhood.

After the assessment, a certain amount and combination of traits that are observed can be sufficient for the diagnosis of a neurodivergent condition, which describes a type of person or behaviour that is not considered ‘neurologically normal’, or neurotypical. Examples of neurodivergent conditions are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).¹ Not all children (or adults) that are observed to have neurodivergent behaviours necessarily have the aforementioned conditions.

There are multiple approaches used in modern science to identify social ability in children. These approaches not only serve as methods of diagnosis but also allow parents and teachers to have a better understanding of how to support the affected children.

Direct observation

People judge others in everyday life and this may not be necessarily negative or conscious. Direct observation of individuals is an informal way of measuring someone’s social skills and is done by almost everyone to some degree. In the context of child social development, direct observation is primarily from parents or teachers but can extend to other family members or friends.

Almost all forms of social gauging incorporate a scaling system or some form of numeration. Direct, informal observation is most consistent within teachers, due to social and safeguarding responsibilities.

In previous studies, teachers gave social skill ratings for their students (11- to 12-year-olds) and this data was compared to camera footage of the students within the classroom over the span of 5 days (1 school week). The behaviour captured on camera was reviewed by the researchers to establish the relationship between their assessment and the responses given by the teachers. Upon comparison, the researchers were unable to find a consistent correlation – it ranged from mildly negative to strongly positive.²

In a broad sense, direct observation refers to documenting social skills without any interactions with test subjects. The advantage of this is that researchers minimise disruption and cannot influence children’s answers. However, they are unable to ask specific questions (this itself may be considered unhelpful as some children may not provide honest answers, especially to unfamiliar adults).³

Standardised tests and assessments

Results from tests tend to have a degree of subjectivity either from the child patients being assessed or from the scientists observing the social skills. The accuracy of standardised tests has generated controversy over misinterpretation of results and the benchmarks such tests are based on have been met with scepticism, primarily due to being outdated or created from a small, unrepresentative study cohort. 

PEERS

PEERS (Paediatric, Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships and Socialisation) is an assessment tool that was discussed in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) to gauge social skills in children undergoing primary and secondary education. PEERS does not aim to be a diagnostic test but rather a means of social profiling to provide insight to parents and teachers. This in turn will help them make any necessary accommodations to help support the children’s growth. PEERS is structured around several subsets that can be categorised as below:

• Social cognition (perception and responses to social stimuli)
• Social communication
• Executive function (translation of cognitive processes into actions)

PEERS is incorporated into a questionnaire known as PEERS-Q, which is presented to children on iPads to provide an interactive interface. This tool is cheap and widely accessible as it is a tablet application. The subtests in PEERS-Q were designed to immerse the children in hypothetical environments, using photographs and first-person perspectives as opposed to written instructions and questions.

PEERS-Q can also be used by parents and teachers and is in fact encouraged. This tool can be used to rate different aspects of the children’s lives. These include: 

• Parents rating primary school children
• Parents rating secondary school children
• Teachers rating primary school children
• Teachers rating secondary school children
• Secondary school children (self-assessment)

Primary school children are not given the opportunity for self-assessment as they are likely to have less self-awareness and metacognition (knowledge of their own thought processes) or general ability to comprehend questions.

While PEERS is an assessment tool that can be used by parents in the comfort of their own homes, its use in classrooms comes with several adjustments. Firstly, a consent form must be signed by all teachers, parents and children who will be assessing using PEERS. Trained researchers accompany all children during the assessment period in a dedicated space in the school, undisrupted by staff, other children, and general noise. Each assessment takes approximately 60 to 75 minutes.

After the assessment period is concluded for one school, teachers are reimbursed for their time, especially if it extends past their standard working hours (but this is unlikely). PEERS-Q is available to parents and teachers free of charge after the research so that they can use the app to continually monitor their children in an informal capacity, and also serves as a promotion to other schools to use PEERS.

Social skills rating system (SSRS)

Initially developed over 30 years ago, the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) is an assessment tool that gauges child behaviour governing academic competence, ‘problem behaviours’, and social skills.

Assessment is quantified along two 3-point scales, one for the perceived frequency of certain behaviours (never, sometimes or very often) and one for their perceived importance (not important, important or critical). These ratings are recorded on questionnaire forms, and filling them out takes around 15 to 20 minutes to complete, although it is not uncommon for it to be completed earlier.⁴

The categories that the SSRS uses are now considered outdated, especially ‘academic competence’ which was originally included because there was a perceived link between a child’s social skills and their abilities within school (which is now considered to be very untrue).⁵

The SSIS (Social Skills Improvement System) is now more favoured than the SSRS.

Social skills improvement system (SSIS)

The SSIS is a revised version of the SSRS, with a significant shift away from viewing neurodivergent traits as problematic, and more of a focus on identifying areas for support and intervention. There are seven categories of behaviour that the SSIS looks into, and they are:

• Self-control
• Empathy
• Communication
• Cooperation
• Responsibility
• Engagement
• Assertion

Also in a questionnaire format, children are asked questions about their perceived frequency of certain behaviours, these now on a 4-point scale (never, seldom, often or always), which provides children with slightly more flexibility with their answers.⁵ The scale for perceived importance of their actions remains the same as SSRS. ‘Problem behaviours’ retains its original category name but is contextualised under five subcategories:

• Hyperactivity or inattention
• Autism spectrum
• Externalising
• Internalising
• Bullying (actively)

Parent, teacher, and self-ratings are used for this assessment method.⁶ Questions have significantly less focus on school life, however questions relating to this field are present within the questionnaire.⁴ SSIS is available for the assessment of children of ages 3 to 18, whereas SSRS is for those who are 3 to 12 years old.^4,7

Summary

Translating the behaviours that we see in children into data that scientists can use is difficult and is more subjective than it seems. Different types of assessment tools are available, and while they operate in the same way (a questionnaire to be answered via a point-scale system), the nuances of the questions make these methods distinctive from each other. For younger children, a more digital approach shows potential for a new standard for social skill assessment in the form of PEERS. It not only provides a more immersive context to answer questions but also provides a deeper insight into how they would act in certain social situations, in a controlled and ethical environment.