{
  "abstract": "Objectives To identify factors associated with social communication functioning (SCF) in young children diagnosed with ASD in Turkey, an upper-middle income country.Methods Using a cross-sectional design, we recruited children newly diagnosed as ASD aged 24-60months who were admitted to Ankara University School of Medicine Developmental Pediatrics Division (AUDPD) between January 1st 2025-September 1st 2025. All children received a comprehensive developmental assessment including the Expanded Guide for Monitoring Child Development, the Autism Social Communication Functioning: Social Communication and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale–Second Edition (CARS-2).Results Of 661 children admitted to AUDBP as in the study period, 57 (8.6%) were diagnosed as ASD and 41 (6.2%) that aged 2-5 comprised the study sample (87.8% boys) with a median age of 28 (min-max:24-60) months. Almost all children had expressive language delay (97.6%) and 26 (63.4%) had cognitive delay. Daily performance for SCF were Level-IV for 20 (48.8%) children, the best capacity for SCF were at Level-III for 22 (53.7%) children. Daily screen exposure >4 hours was significantly associated with lower level in the capacity of SCF (OR=0.222, 95% CI:0.056–0.889; p=0.028). The CARS scores showed a very strong negative correlation with performance (ρ=-0.713, p=0.001) and a strong negative correlation with capacity of SCF (ρ=-0.610, p=0.001). Severe cognitive delay was correlated with lower performance (ρ=-0.488, p=0.001) and capacity (ρ=-0.470, p=0.002) of SCF.Conclusions We found a gap between young children’s capacity and performance in SCF from Turkey. To improve SCF, family-centred interventions must target lowering screen exposure as well as supporting cognitive and relating development of young children with ASD.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Efsun Korkmaz Seven"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Ezgi Ozalp Akin"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Burcu Civelek Urey"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Gokce Ozyılmaz Bozat"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Merve Betul Solmaz"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Ayse Akkus"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Esin Onarici"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Developmental Pediatrics Division, Ankara, Turkey"
      ],
      "name": "Bahar Bingoler Pekcici"
    }
  ],
  "title": "183 Factors associated with social communication functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder from Turkey",
  "uid": "4761a587-d758-568c-bdcf-4607853b6949"
}