Executive functioning in autism spectrum disorders: influence of task and sample characteristics and relation to symptom severity.

Impaired executive functioning (EF) has been proposed to underlie symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, insight in the EF profile of ASD individuals is hampered due to task impurity and inconsistent findings. To elucidate these inconsistencies, we investigated the influence of task a...

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Publicado en:European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 24; no. 11; pp. 1399 - 1418
Autores principales: Eylen, Lien, Boets, Bart, Steyaert, Jean, Wagemans, Johan, Noens, Ilse
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Nov2015
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
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        10.1007/s00787-015-0689-1
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        atl: Executive functioning in autism spectrum disorders: influence of task and sample characteristics and relation to symptom severity.
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          Eylen, Lien
          Boets, Bart
          Steyaert, Jean
          Wagemans, Johan
          Noens, Ilse
      sug:
        subj:
          Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Severity of Disability
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Child
          Adolescence
          Descriptive Statistics
          Data Analysis Software
          Scales
          Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient
          Post Hoc Analysis
          Analysis of Variance
          Repeated Measures
          Effect Size
          Funding Source
          Child: 6-12 years
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Impaired executive functioning (EF) has been proposed to underlie symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, insight in the EF profile of ASD individuals is hampered due to task impurity and inconsistent findings. To elucidate these inconsistencies, we investigated the influence of task and sample characteristics on EF in ASD, with an extended test battery designed to reduce task impurity. Additionally, we studied the relation between EF and ASD symptoms. EF (inhibition, cognitive flexibility, generativity, working memory and planning) was measured in open-ended versus structured assessment situations, while controlling for possible confounding EF and non-EF variables. The performance of 50 individuals with ASD was compared with that of 50 age, gender and IQ matched typically developing (TD) individuals. The effects of group (ASD versus TD), age (children versus adolescents) and gender were examined, as well as the correlation between age, IQ, ASD symptoms and EF. Individuals with ASD showed impairments in all EF domains, but deficits were more pronounced in open-ended compared to structured settings. Group differences did not depend on gender and only occasionally on participants' age. This suggests that inconsistencies between studies largely result from differences in task characteristics and less from differences in the investigated sample features. However, age and IQ strongly correlated with EF, indicating that group differences in these factors should be controlled for when studying EF. Finally, EF correlated with both social and non-social ASD symptoms, but further research is needed to clarify the nature of this relationship.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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