EVALUATION OF THE THEORY OF MIND IN ASD: FUNCTIONAL INDEPENDENCE AND APPLICABLE GUIDELINES IN PUBLIC HEALTH

SOCIAL COGNITION AND THEORY OF MIND (TOM) ARE KEY COMPONENTS FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION AND ADAPTIVE FUNCTIONING, WITH PARTICULAR RELEVANCE IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD). IN THE ECUADORIAN CONTEXT, THE LOCAL EVIDENCE ON THESE PROCESSES IS LIMITED, WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT THE GENERATION OF PROTOCOLS APPLICABLE IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO CHARACTERIZE TOM AND SOCIAL COGNITION IN PEOPLE WITH ASD USERS OF CENTERS OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH (MSP), IDENTIFY CLINICAL, COGNITIVE AND FUNCTIONAL INDEPENDENCE PREDICTORS, AND INTEGRATE THE PERSPECTIVE OF CAREGIVERS AS KEY INFORMANTS. ALSO, A MINIMUM EVALUATION PACKAGE AND BRIEF INTERVENTION GUIDELINES, CO-BUILT WITH HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND CAREGIVERS, WILL BE DEVELOPED AND VALIDATED FOR APPLICATION IN FIRST AND SECOND LEVEL CLINICAL CARE. THE RESEARCH DESIGN IS OBSERVATIONAL, ANALYTICAL AND TRANSVERSAL. THE SAMPLE WILL BE MADE UP OF AT LEAST 100 PARTICIPANTS WITH ASD, BETWEEN 8 AND 18 YEARS OLD, ALONG WITH THEIR CAREGIVERS. A BATTERY OF STANDARDIZED TOM INSTRUMENTS, SOCIAL COGNITION, EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS, SOCIO-COMMUNICATIVE SEVERITY AND FUNCTIONAL INDEPENDENCE WILL BE APPLIED. THE ANALYSIS WILL INCLUDE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, MULTIPLE REGRESSIONS AND LATENT CLASS MODELS TO IDENTIFY PERFORMANCE PROFILES AND PREDICTORS. THE RESULTS WILL BE TRANSLATED INTO SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS, A POLICY BRIEF FOR THE MSP AND TRANSFER MATERIALS. THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND PRACTICAL TOOLS THAT WILL STRENGTHEN PUBLIC HEALTH CARE AND EQUITY IN ACCESS TO DIAGNOSES AND INTERVENTIONS IN ASD.

XXII UNIVERSITY COMPETITION FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS