Assessment of the social interaction abilities of adolescents with communication disability: a scoping review

PURPOSE: We sought to identify the constructs and measures used to evaluate the social interaction abilities of young people (12-17 years) with communication disability, drawing from three frameworks: a taxonomy of pediatric cognitive-communication disorders, a taxonomy to describe language assessments of school-aged children, and the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). METHOD: A scoping review was conducted, guided by the five-stage methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O'Malley (2005). Ten databases were searched (CENTRAL, CINAHL, ERIC, LLBA, Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, speechBITE, Web of Science, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global). RESULTS: In total, 173 peer-reviewed publications were identified and included in this review. Most papers measured the construct of pragmatics/social communication and behavior using standardized, norm-referenced, static, and decontextualized instruments that focused on the ICF's Activity component, with fewer papers evaluating young people's social interaction skills at the Participation level. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need for more Participation-focused measures. Such measures could enable speech-language pathologists to support young people's development and participation in ways that are meaningful to them.