Identifying asd social subtypes in asd: a preliminary study using the research domain criteria (rdoc) framework

Impairments in social functioning are considered a hallmark diagnostic feature of ASD. However, individuals diagnosed with ASD vary widely with respect to specific presentation, severity, and course across different dimensions of this complex symptom domain. The aim of this investigation was to explore the existence of homogeneous subgroups of individuals who share unique profiles across specific Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) social dimensions. This was made possible by the availability of the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale (SSDS), a newly developed quantitative measure developed to capture several key RDoC-aligned social dimensions.