An Evaluation of Social Skills in Adults with Pica, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Intellectual Disability

Adults with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are often at risk for developing additional forms of psychopathology and/or challenging behaviors, including pica. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of pica and social skills deficits. The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Individuals with sEvere Retardation (MESSIER), a measure of social skill impairment, was administered to a group of adults with ID alone (n = 22), a group with ID and ASD (n = 22), and a group with ID, ASD, and pica (n = 15). The Pica + ASD + ID group exhibited significantly fewer pro-social behaviors than the ID alone group but had significantly more negative social skills than both other groups. These findings and the implications of these data are discussed.