Delineating Gender Disparities in Cognitive Abilities and Social Functioning Among Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

The current study was aimed at exploring delineating gender differences in cognitive abilities and social functioning among children diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. Study was conducted on 50 children with intellectual disabilities both with and without autism (39 of which were male and 11 were female). DST, VSMS and ISAA scale were administered to the sample. The demographic details assessed the age, gender, residence, and family type of the ID children. The data was computed on statistics including descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation and the t-test for independent means with SPSS (version 25.0) a statistical software. The t-test was used to determine the mean differences for each of the dependent variables independently based on age, gender, residence, family type and severity separately for each of the dependent variables (developmental age, developmental quotient, social age, and social quotient). To determine the correlation between the dependent variables, DA, DQ, SA, and SQ, Pearson's product moment correlation was calculated. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in developmental age, development quotient, social age, and social quotient. Furthermore, there exists a significant difference between the developmental quotient and social quotient with the severity levels whereas a positive correlation was found between all the variables. Further investigations into the individual disparities among different age groups within the broader population may involve the inclusion of additional associated factors. Can perform intervention strategies to support their social development, such as social skills training, peer interaction program, or therapy focused on emotional regulation and social communication.