Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia
Abstract BackgroundSocial communication is a crucial factor influencing human social life. Quantifying the degree of difficulty faced in social communication is necessary for understanding developmental and neurological disorders and for creating systems used in automatic symp...
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JMIR Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e59261 |
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| author | Hiroki Tanaka Kana Miyamoto Jennifer Hamet Bagnou Elise Prigent Céline Clavel Jean-Claude Martin Satoshi Nakamura |
| author_facet | Hiroki Tanaka Kana Miyamoto Jennifer Hamet Bagnou Elise Prigent Céline Clavel Jean-Claude Martin Satoshi Nakamura |
| author_sort | Hiroki Tanaka |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Abstract
BackgroundSocial communication is a crucial factor influencing human social life. Quantifying the degree of difficulty faced in social communication is necessary for understanding developmental and neurological disorders and for creating systems used in automatic symptom screening and assistive methods such as social skills training (SST). SST by a human trainer is a well-established method. Previous SST used a modified roleplay test to evaluate human social communication skills. However, there are no widely accepted evaluation criteria or social behavioral markers to quantify social performance during SST.
ObjectiveThis paper has 2 objectives. First, we propose applying the Social Performance Rating Scale (SPRS) to SST data to measure social communication skills. We constructed a Japanese version of the SPRS already developed in English and French. Second, we attempt to quantify action units during SST for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or schizophrenia.
MethodsWe used videos of interactions between trainers, adults with ASD (n=16) or schizophrenia (n=15), and control participants (n=19) during SST sessions. Two raters applied the proposed scale to annotate the collected data. We investigated the differences between roleplay tasks and participant groups (ASD, schizophrenia, and control). Furthermore, the intensity of action units on the OpenFace toolkit was measured in terms of mean and SD during SST roleplaying.
ResultsWe found significantly greater gaze scores in adults with ASD than in adults with schizophrenia. Differences were also found between the ratings of different tasks in the adults with schizophrenia and the control participants. Action units numbered AU06 and AU12 were significantly deactivated in people with schizophrenia compared with the control group. Moreover, AU02 was significantly activated in people with ASD compared with the other groups.
ConclusionsThe results suggest that the SPRS can be a useful tool for assessing social communication skills in different cultures and different pathologies when used with the modified roleplay test. Furthermore, facial expressions could provide effective social and behavioral markers to characterize psychometric properties. Possible future directions include using the SPRS for assessing social behavior during interaction with a digital agent. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ef6aeaee0b0040acb23981d65079fd2c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-ef6aeaee0b0040acb23981d65079fd2c2025-01-17T20:33:29ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2025-01-019e59261e5926110.2196/59261Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and SchizophreniaHiroki Tanakahttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-0548-6252Kana Miyamotohttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-1578-1666Jennifer Hamet Bagnouhttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-0536-9125Elise Prigenthttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-7711-4477Céline Clavelhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-2253-7963Jean-Claude Martinhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-7157-0727Satoshi Nakamurahttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-6956-3803 Abstract BackgroundSocial communication is a crucial factor influencing human social life. Quantifying the degree of difficulty faced in social communication is necessary for understanding developmental and neurological disorders and for creating systems used in automatic symptom screening and assistive methods such as social skills training (SST). SST by a human trainer is a well-established method. Previous SST used a modified roleplay test to evaluate human social communication skills. However, there are no widely accepted evaluation criteria or social behavioral markers to quantify social performance during SST. ObjectiveThis paper has 2 objectives. First, we propose applying the Social Performance Rating Scale (SPRS) to SST data to measure social communication skills. We constructed a Japanese version of the SPRS already developed in English and French. Second, we attempt to quantify action units during SST for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or schizophrenia. MethodsWe used videos of interactions between trainers, adults with ASD (n=16) or schizophrenia (n=15), and control participants (n=19) during SST sessions. Two raters applied the proposed scale to annotate the collected data. We investigated the differences between roleplay tasks and participant groups (ASD, schizophrenia, and control). Furthermore, the intensity of action units on the OpenFace toolkit was measured in terms of mean and SD during SST roleplaying. ResultsWe found significantly greater gaze scores in adults with ASD than in adults with schizophrenia. Differences were also found between the ratings of different tasks in the adults with schizophrenia and the control participants. Action units numbered AU06 and AU12 were significantly deactivated in people with schizophrenia compared with the control group. Moreover, AU02 was significantly activated in people with ASD compared with the other groups. ConclusionsThe results suggest that the SPRS can be a useful tool for assessing social communication skills in different cultures and different pathologies when used with the modified roleplay test. Furthermore, facial expressions could provide effective social and behavioral markers to characterize psychometric properties. Possible future directions include using the SPRS for assessing social behavior during interaction with a digital agent.https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e59261 |
| spellingShingle | Hiroki Tanaka Kana Miyamoto Jennifer Hamet Bagnou Elise Prigent Céline Clavel Jean-Claude Martin Satoshi Nakamura Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia JMIR Formative Research |
| title | Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia |
| title_full | Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia |
| title_fullStr | Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia |
| title_short | Analysis of Social Performance and Action Units During Social Skills Training: Focus Group Study of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia |
| title_sort | analysis of social performance and action units during social skills training focus group study of adults with autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e59261 |
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