More Than IQ: Executive Function Explains Adaptive Behavior Above and Beyond Nonverbal IQ in Youth With Autism and Lower IQ

Bertollo, Jennifer R.; Yerys, Benjamin E.

doi:10.1352/1944-7558-124.3.191

Cited by 41 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This replicates earlier findings, where age and cognitive ability but not ASD symptom severity contributed to variability in adaptive functioning in a sample of 125 toddlers (Ray-Subramanian et al, 2011). Other prognostic predictors of adaptive functioning identified in previous studies include executive functioning (Bertollo & Yerys, 2019) and level of language (Stone et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Predictors of adaptive functioning in preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder

et al. 2021

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Difficulties in adaptive functioning are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and contribute to negative outcomes across the lifespan. Research indicates that cognitive ability is related to degree of adaptive functioning impairments, particularly in young children with ASD. However, the extent to which other factors, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and ASD symptom severity, predict impairments in adaptive functioning remains unclear. The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which SES, ASD symptom severity, and cognitive ability contribute to variability in domain-specific and global components of adaptive functioning in preschool-aged children with ASD. Participants were 99 preschool-aged children (2-6 years) with ASD who attended a tertiary diagnostic service. Results demonstrate that cognitive ability accounted for a significant proportion of variance in domain-specific and global components of adaptive functioning, with higher cognitive ability predicting better adaptive functioning. Results also demonstrate that SES accounted for some variability in domainspecific communication skills and global adaptive functioning when compared to basic demographic factors alone (age and gender). By contrast, ASD symptom severity did not predict variability in domain-specific or global components of adaptive functioning. These findings provide support for a relationship between cognitive ability and adaptive functioning in preschool-aged children with ASD and help to explain specific contributions of verbal and nonverbal ability to adaptive functioning; from this, we can better understand which children are likely to show the greatest degree of impairments across components of adaptive functioning early in development.Lay Summary: People with autism often have difficulties with everyday communication, daily living, and social skills, which are also called adaptive functioning skills. This study investigated factors that might be related to these difficulties in preschoolers with autism. We found that better cognitive ability, but not autism symptoms, were associated with better adaptive functioning. This suggests that interventions for young children with autism should take into account cognitive ability to better understand which children are likely to have difficulties with adaptive functioning.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Predictors of adaptive functioning in preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder

et al. 2021

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“…In addition, the specific empathy impairment of ASC individuals may be influenced by other factors, such as intelligence (Bertollo and Yerys, 2019), cognitive control (Hughes, 2001; Bertollo and Yerys, 2019), action anticipation (Sinha et al, 2014; Krogh-Jespersen et al, 2018), and implicit learning (Lieberman, 2000; Foti et al, 2015), among others. Especially relevant may be the empathy impairment of ASC individuals at the state level due to the situational dependence of state empathy itself (Kennedy and Adolphs, 2012; Chen and Liu, 2016; Powell and Roberts, 2017).…”

Section: Prospects and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, some studies have found that ASC individuals have varying degrees of impairment in intelligence (Spencer et al, 2007), cognitive control (Solomon et al, 2008), implicit learning (Vivanti and Rogers, 2014), and action anticipation (Ganglmayer et al, 2019). Meanwhile, the impairment of intelligence, cognitive control, implicit learning, and action anticipation in ASC individuals can provide some explanation for their impairment in social communication (Lieberman, 2000; Hughes, 2001; Sinha et al, 2014; Foti et al, 2015; Krogh-Jespersen et al, 2018; Bertollo and Yerys, 2019). However, because the reports on these variables in the study of ASC individuals' empathy impairment are incomplete and the measurement tools are inconsistent, we do not further analyse these variables in this research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy Impairment in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Conditions From a Multidimensional Perspective: A Meta-Analysis

et al. 2019

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Background: Although empathy has always been considered to be impaired in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASCs), the relevant findings have been inconsistent. The present meta-analysis aims to determine which empathy components are impaired and how culture, gender, and age moderate such empathy impairment.Methods: By using “Autism,” “Asperger Syndrome,” “Empathy,” and related Chinese synonyms as keywords, we searched the databases of Weipu, Wanfang, CNKI, Web of Science, Science Direct, SpringerLink, and Elsevier through “subject” and “keyword” searches. We also conducted a manual search according to the references. In total, 51 studies from Eastern and Western countries were included in this meta-analysis, which comprised 144 independent effects, 2,095 individuals with ASCs and 2,869 controls without ASCs. For the retrieved data, Hedge's g was taken as the quantitative measure of effect, and CMA V2.0 software was used for publication bias tests (by using Rosenthal's Classic Failsafe-N and Egger's methods), heterogeneity tests (by using a Q-test, I2-test, and H-test) and a moderating effect test (by using a univariate regression model).Results: The results showed that the empathy impairment evident in individuals with ASCs is component specific; that is, trait-cognitive empathy, trait-empathic concern, state-cognitive empathy, and state-empathic concern are impaired, whereas state-empathic accuracy remains intact, and trait-empathic accuracy is superior to the trait-empathic accuracy in neurotypical individuals. The univariate regression model showed that gender moderates the impairment of the trait-empathic concern, trait-empathic accuracy, and state-cognitive empathy in autistic individuals and that age moderates the impairment of the trait-cognitive empathy, trait-empathic accuracy, state-empathic concern, and state-empathic accuracy in autistic individuals. However, culture does not moderate any empathy components (trait-cognitive empathy, trait-empathic concern, or state-cognitive empathy) involved in the present meta-analysis.Conclusions: These findings contribute to ending the controversy over the empathic integrity of individuals with ASCs and shed some light on future research about the empathy impairment of autistic individuals. More specifically, subsequent studies should distinguish specific empathy components and consider the role of gender and age when demonstrating empathy impairment in individuals with ASCs. Moreover, related studies based on Asian collectivist cultural samples and female samples should be further enriched.

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“…EFs are a complex set of cognitive abilities necessary for emotion regulation, deliberate reasoning, and self-regulation that are required to reach suitable levels of adaptive functioning, quality of life, and wealth, often more than IQ scores and socioeconomic status [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. In fact, the presence of difficulties in EFs can be considered as a transdiagnostic indicator of atypical development [ 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inhibitory Dimensions and Delay of Gratification: A Comparative Study on Individuals with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

et al. 2021

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While previous research on inhibition in people with Down syndrome (DS) reported contradictory results, with no explicit theoretical model, on the other hand, a more homogeneous impaired profile on the delay of gratification skills emerged. The main goal of the present study was to investigate response inhibition, interference suppression, and delay of gratification in 51 individuals with DS matched for a measure of mental age (MA) with 71 typically developing (TD) children. Moreover, we cross-sectionally explored the strengths and weaknesses of these components in children and adolescents vs. adults with DS with the same MA. A battery of laboratory tasks tapping on inhibitory sub-components and delay of gratification was administrated. Results indicated that individuals with DS showed an overall worse performance compared to TD children on response inhibition and delay of gratification, while no differences emerged between the two samples on the interference suppression. Additionally, our results suggested that older individuals with DS outperformed the younger ones both in response inhibition and in the delay of gratification, whereas the interference suppression still remains impaired in adulthood. This study highlights the importance of evaluating inhibitory sub-components considering both MA and chronological age in order to promote more effective and evidence-based training for this population.

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More Than IQ: Executive Function Explains Adaptive Behavior Above and Beyond Nonverbal IQ in Youth With Autism and Lower IQ

Cited by 41 publications

References 32 publications

Predictors of adaptive functioning in preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder

Predictors of adaptive functioning in preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder

Empathy Impairment in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Conditions From a Multidimensional Perspective: A Meta-Analysis

Inhibitory Dimensions and Delay of Gratification: A Comparative Study on Individuals with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

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