Relationships among repetitive behaviors, sensory features, and executive functions in high functioning autism

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between repetitive behaviors and sensory processing issues in school-aged children with high functioning autism (HFA). Children with HFA (N = 61) were compared to healthy, typical controls (N = 64) to determine the relationship between these behavioral classes and to examine whether executive dysfunction explained any relationship between the variables. Particular types of repetitive behavior (i.e., stereotypy and compulsions) were related to sensory features in autism; however, executive deficits were only correlated with repetitive behavior. This finding suggests that executive dysfunction is not the shared neurocognitive mechanism that accounts for the relationship between restricted, repetitive behaviors and aberrant sensory features in HFA. Group status, younger chronological age, presence of sensory processing issues, and difficulties with behavior regulation predicted the presence of repetitive behaviors in the HFA group. KeywordsAutism Spectrum Disorder; Repetitive Behaviors; Sensory Features; Executive Function Repetitive behaviors comprise one faction of the triad of clinical symptoms that characterize autism spectrum disorder (ASD), presenting concomitantly with social and communication deficits. Restricted, repetitive behaviors (RRBs) in autism refer to an assemblage of behaviors defined by their topographical similarity across contexts, inappropriateness, and repetition. These behaviors have been conceptualized as part of a continuum that ranges from lower order (stereotypy, self-injury) to higher order (compulsions, rituals /sameness, restricted interests) (Carcani-Rathwell, Rabe-Hasketh, & Santosh, 2006; Cucarro et al., 2003;Hus, Pickles, Cook, Risi, & Lord, 2006;Turner, 1999). Higher order behaviors, specifically the presence of restricted/narrow interests, odd object attachments or unusual object preoccupations (e.g., fascination with ceiling fans), are thought to be more unique to autism in comparison to other types of repetitive behaviors (e.g., self-injury) (Lam, Bodfish, & Piven, 2008 Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptRes Autism Spectr Disord. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 April 5. The clinical presentation of repetitive behaviors in autism has been linked to deficits in executive functioning (Turner, 1999). Executive function is an umbrella term for a set of subfunctions that are integrated throughout cortical and subcortical areas of the brain and used to carry out higher order cognitive tasks (O'Hearn, Asato, Ordaz, & Luna, 2008;Zelazo, Carter...

Relationship Between Sustained, Selective and Shifting Attention and Behavioral Symptoms in Children With High-Functioning Autism

“…In other words, symptoms of communication and social interactions will be intensified when deficiency of selective attention increases. The results of regression analysis also showed that selective attention can predict communication and stereotyped behaviors, which is consistent with the results obtained by other researchers (3,4,19).…”

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Cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorder: Explaining the inconsistencies?

“…Studies investigating cognitive flexibility in natural settings by means of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) have shown that people with ASD have problems with flexibility in daily life (Gioia, Isquith, Kenworthy, & Barton, 2002;Mackinlay, Charman, & Karmiloff-Smith, 2006). These flexibility deficits have also been related to the repetitive behaviors typical for ASD (Boyd et al, 2009). However, studies measuring cognitive flexibility in a clinical or research setting have yielded more inconsistent findings.…”

Detail-oriented cognitive style and social communicative deficits, within and beyond the autism spectrum: Independent traits that grow into developmental interdependence

“…Indeed, the most thorough meta-analysis to date found that sensory modulation issues consistently distinguish ASC and TD individuals across studies (Ben-Sasson et al, 2009). Sensory issues are largely separable not only from cognitive inflexibility (as argued above), but also from executive functioning (Boyd et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2009), and social interaction deficits (Watson et al, 2011), the latter observable as early as infancy (Baranek, 1999). Moreover, although the affected modalities can vary greatly between ASC individuals (perhaps explaining some of the ambivalence towards including sensory issues as a core symptom) there is some evidence that, within ASC individuals, severity of sensory modulation abnormalities highly correlates across sensory modalities (Kern et al, 2007).…”