This study examines whether engagement with social robots translates into improved human-directed social abilities in autistic children. We conducted an 8-week home-based randomized controlled trial with 40 children aged 5--9 using a commercial social robot (Qrobot). Families were assigned to either continued robot access or robot withdrawal. Quantitative measures and caregiver interviews assessed anxiety, social motivation, emotion inference, and empathy. Results showed that continued robot access significantly reduced anxiety, confirming strong affective benefits and high usability. However, children in the withdrawal group demonstrated greater improvements in social motivation, emotion understanding, and empathic behaviors toward caregivers and peers. Qualitative findings revealed a "handoff versus siloing" pattern: withdrawal promoted reorientation toward human social interaction, while continued access concentrated engagement within the child--robot dyad and limited transfer to real-world contexts. We interpret these results as evidence that high engagement does not guarantee social transfer.

翻译：本研究探讨自闭症儿童与社交机器人的参与度是否能转化为改善其面向人类的社会能力。我们开展了一项为期8周、基于家庭的随机对照试验，研究对象为40名5-9岁儿童，使用商用社交机器人（Qrobot）。家庭被随机分配至持续使用机器人组或撤出机器人组。通过量化测量和照料者访谈评估焦虑、社会动机、情感推理和共情能力。结果显示，持续使用机器人组显著降低焦虑，证实了强烈的情绪效益和高可用性。然而，撤出机器人组在面向照料者和同伴的社会动机、情绪理解和共情行为方面表现出更显著的改善。定性分析揭示了"交接与隔离"模式：撤出促进了向人类社交互动的重新定向，而持续使用则将参与集中于儿童-机器人二元互动，限制了向现实情境的迁移。我们将这些结果解读为：高参与度并不能保证社交能力迁移。