Autism Research最新文献

{"title":"Identifying and Responding to Gaps in the Academic Research Pipeline: Findings From the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Early Career Committee","authors":"Michele E. Villalobos,&nbsp;Giacomo Vivanti,&nbsp;Subhashini Jayanath,&nbsp;Kimberly Carpenter,&nbsp;Mark D. Shen,&nbsp;Frederick Shic,&nbsp;Jill Locke","doi":"10.1002/aur.70028","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70028","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) was established in 2001 with the purpose of providing researchers in the field of autism a specific venue to enhance the quality of multidisciplinary research and elevate the field among the sciences. The autism field and size of the society has now expanded greatly to include over 5000 members, 29% of whom identify as early career researchers. In 2016, a survey was conducted with these early career researchers to identify existing supports and areas of need necessary for a successful and sustained autism research career. Results clearly identified three areas of need: (1) networking opportunities with “change makers,” including funding agencies, journal editors, and senior autism researchers; (2) ensuring early career researchers in the autism research field were diverse and representative of the world; and (3) support from senior researchers to help early career researchers secure their first independent grant and move through promotion. The INSAR Early Career Committee (ECC) was established and developed three initiatives to address the aforementioned gaps: Research Rapid Rounds, the Global Representatives Initiative Pilot (GRIP), and the Mentoring Initiative. The ECC has successfully connected over 34 early career researchers and 40 students/trainees to mentors in 19 unique countries through networking programs and events and has established representatives in seven different countries outside the US and UK. These initiatives are a step towards supporting early career academics in the autism field and bring together autism researchers from around the world to share their work and create professional collaborations to forge our field forward.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"717-724"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70028","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Autistic Traits and Emotion Dysregulation in 5–11-Year-Old Intellectually Able Children With Autism Spectrum Condition: Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation Strategies","authors":"Hsin-Hui Lu,&nbsp;Angana Nandy,&nbsp;Hsing-Chang Ni","doi":"10.1002/aur.70027","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70027","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Emotion dysregulation (ED) is common among children with an autism spectrum condition (ASC). However, the mechanisms underlying emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) and their impacts on ED in this population remain unclear. The current study examined whether ED is directly related to autistic traits or mediated by deficits in ERSs after comorbidity is accounted for. A cohort of 110 intellectually able children aged 5–11 years with ASC participated in this study. Autistic traits and ED were assessed using the Autism Spectrum Quotient-Children and Child Behavior Checklist, respectively. Intrinsic ERSs, specifically cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, were evaluated using the Parent Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, alongside items measuring parental coregulation as an extrinsic ERS. After adjusting for comorbidities (i.e., other neurodevelopmental or neurological disorders), the findings revealed pronounced autistic traits in social skills, attention switching, communication, and imagination correlated with higher ED levels, with parental coregulation mediating this correlation. Notably, the effects of communication and imagination on ED were fully mediated by parental coregulation. Additionally, autistic traits related to imagination were demonstrated to impair the development of cognitive reappraisal, further exacerbating ED. These results provide a deeper understanding of the emotional challenges faced by intellectually able children with ASC. The findings of this study underscore the importance of interventions aimed at enhancing emotion regulation within the parent–child dyad and fostering the development of cognitive reappraisal through imitative tasks. Such ERS-focused interventions hold potential for mitigating the adverse effects of autistic traits on emotional functioning.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 5","pages":"1050-1061"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70027","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143671545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age-Related Trajectories of Autistic Traits in Children With Angelman Syndrome","authors":"Doesjka A. Hagenaar,&nbsp;Sabine E. Mous,&nbsp;Leontine W. ten Hoopen,&nbsp;André B. Rietman,&nbsp;Kamil R. Hiralal,&nbsp;Karen G. C. B. Bindels-de Heus,&nbsp;Pieter F. A. de Nijs,&nbsp;Theresa C. Mohr,&nbsp;Eline J. Lens,&nbsp;Manon H. J. Hillegers,&nbsp;Henriette A. Moll,&nbsp;Marie-Claire Y. de Wit,&nbsp;Gwen C. Dieleman","doi":"10.1002/aur.70017","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70017","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare neurogenetic disorder. Previous studies indicate a high prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with considerable variability. Little is known regarding the longitudinal trajectory of autistic traits. We aim to investigate autistic traits, the effect of age on these traits, and associated features in AS children. This (partly) longitudinal clinical record study at the ENCORE Expertise Center involved 107 AS children aged 2–18 with one (<i>N</i> = 107), two (<i>N</i> = 49), or three (<i>N</i> = 14) measurements. Autistic traits and sensory processing issues were assessed using various instruments, and DSM classifications were used descriptively. Covariates were genotype, gender, and epilepsy. Results indicate a high prevalence of autistic traits and sensory processing issues. Children with the deletion genotype exhibited more autistic traits. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) classifications indicated higher rates of ASD compared to clinician DSM classifications. Autistic traits generally remained stable over time, except that ADOS scores significantly decreased for children with the <i>UBE3A</i> mutation genotype, and in the social affect domain for the entire group. In conclusion, incorporating the assessment of autistic traits and sensory processing into clinical practice for AS is important to inform adaptations of the environment to meet the child’s needs. Additionally, clinicians and researchers should be mindful of the potential for overestimating ASD traits in AS when relying on the ADOS. ASD diagnosis in AS should integrate multiple diagnostic instruments, diverse hetero-anamnestic sources, and multidisciplinary expert opinions.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"870-880"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70017","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143671888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Activation of Thematic and Taxonomic Relations During Lexical-Semantic Processing in Autistic Children: Evidence From Eye Movements","authors":"Zihui Hua,&nbsp;Tianbi Li,&nbsp;Ruoxi Shi,&nbsp;Ran Wei,&nbsp;Li Yi","doi":"10.1002/aur.70023","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70023","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study investigated the activation of thematic and taxonomic relations during online lexical-semantic processing in autistic children using an eye-tracking competition task. Thirty-six preschool-aged autistic children and 35 age-, gender-, and verbal-IQ-matched neurotypical (NT) children viewed arrays containing a target object, a thematically related competitor, a taxonomically related competitor, and an unrelated distractor while hearing the target word. Results revealed three key findings. First, both groups demonstrated activation of thematic and taxonomic relations during lexical processing, with comparable timing of activation onset. Second, while autistic children began to systematically orient attention to the target as quickly as NT children, they showed reduced overall attention to the target during lexical processing. Third, autistic children exhibited stronger activation of taxonomic relations and stronger taxonomic competition effects on target recognition compared to NT children, whereas their activation of thematic relations and thematic competition effects were comparable to NT children. These findings suggest that while the basic thematic and taxonomic activation processes remain robust in autistic children, and while their initial activation of the target and semantically related representations is as fast as that of NT children, the increased sensitivity to taxonomic relations in autistic children might interfere with the overall processing efficiency of target words. These results advance our understanding of lexical-semantic organization and processing in autism and provide implications for language intervention strategies.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 5","pages":"1037-1049"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143665596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Atypical Postural Control Variability and Coordination Persist Into Middle and Older Adulthood in Autism Spectrum Disorder","authors":"Hang Qu,&nbsp;Jingying Wang,&nbsp;Desirae J. Shirley,&nbsp;Hanna M. Gemmell,&nbsp;Danielle Christensen,&nbsp;Ann-Marie Orlando,&nbsp;Regilda A. Romero,&nbsp;Brandon A. Zielinski,&nbsp;Zheng Wang","doi":"10.1002/aur.70024","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70024","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Postural control deviations remain largely unexplored in middle aged and older autistic adults. With the increased prevalence of neurodegenerative conditions and heightened fall risk, precise quantification of postural variability and coordination may provide valuable insights into aging associated neuromotor deviations in autistic adults. Forty-seven autistic and 48 non-autistic individuals completed static stance, anterior–posterior (AP), and mediolateral (ML) postural sway on a force platform. Center of pressure (COP) metrics were derived and interpreted using ANCOVAs for between-group comparisons and multilinear regressions for group <span></span><math>\u0000 \u0000 <semantics>\u0000 \u0000 <mrow>\u0000 \u0000 <mo>×</mo>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 </semantics>\u0000 </math> age interaction. Correlations between clinical measures and COP variables that differentiated groups were explored. Compared to non-autistic individuals, autistic adults exhibited greater COP standard deviation (COP_SD) and COP trajectory length during static stance and demonstrated significant COP_SD-AP reductions in older age. Autistic adults also exhibited decreased COP range of motion (ROM) but increased ROM variability in the target direction during dynamic stance. Autistic adults' postural sway was jerkier during dynamic stance, and increased ROM variability during dynamic AP sway was moderately associated with lower verbal IQ in autistic adults. Our findings highlight persistent postural control deviations in middle aged and older autistic adults. Static and dynamic stance are differentially associated with unique profiles of postural control in ASD. Specifically, autistic adults demonstrated pronounced increases in postural sway variability during static stance, while reducing coordination during dynamic conditions. The extent to which postural control deviations found in autistic adults are predictive to the onset of neurodegenerative conditions and the severity of falls warrants future longitudinal research.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"752-764"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70024","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143659776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the CELF-5 Screening Test and Vineland-3 for Identifying Language Difficulties in Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder","authors":"Vishnu Priya Mohanakumar Sindhu,&nbsp;Amanda Brignell,&nbsp;Mia Moses,&nbsp;Kathryn Kallady,&nbsp;Mark A. Bellgrove,&nbsp;Beth P. Johnson","doi":"10.1002/aur.70021","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70021","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Language screening tools are frequently used to identify children with potential undiagnosed language difficulties. These difficulties are more prevalent in autistic children and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared to neurotypical peers. Despite the widespread use of tools like the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fifth Edition Screening Test (CELF-5 Screener) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (Vineland-3), their sensitivity and specificity for this population have not been empirically validated. This study aimed to evaluate the screening accuracy of the CELF-5 Screener and Vineland-3 in children diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD and compare their performance to the gold standard measure. The sample consisted of 132 participants (<i>n</i>\u0000 _autism = 25; <i>n</i>\u0000 _ADHD = 29, and <i>n</i>\u0000 _autism+ADHD = 78; <i>M</i>\u0000 _{age in years} = 9.6; % male = 59) from the Monash Autism-ADHD Genetics and Neurodevelopment Project. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the CELF-5 Screener and Vineland-3 receptive and expressive language subdomain scores were compared against those of the clinician-administered CELF-5 receptive and expressive language composite scores. The screening accuracy of each tool was further evaluated through Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses and calculations of Youden's <i>J</i> statistic. The CELF-5 Screener demonstrated poor sensitivity for receptive language difficulties (35.6%) while demonstrating high specificity (95.3%). Similarly, for expressive language difficulties, the sensitivity was low (37.9%), and the specificity was high (91.1%). The Vineland-3 showed high sensitivity (93.3%) but low specificity (48%) for expressive language difficulties and inadequate sensitivity (80.9%) and specificity (22.4%) for receptive language difficulties. Both the CELF-5 Screener and Vineland-3 may miss a significant number of children with co-occurring language difficulties related to autism and/or ADHD. Examiners must understand these tools' strengths and limitations, especially when assessing neurodivergent children whose language development might not follow a normative trajectory.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"857-869"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paths to Common Ground in ASD","authors":"Einat Karin,&nbsp;Nirit Bauminger Zviely,&nbsp;Yael Estrugo,&nbsp;Maya Sabag,&nbsp;Ronny Geva","doi":"10.1002/aur.70006","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70006","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Common ground (CG), the shared contextual knowledge serving everyday situations like conversations, is crucial for effective communication. This study delved into CG generation between peers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, <i>N</i> = 84) compared to Controls (<i>N</i> = 56) children and adolescents (ages 6–16 years) paired into peer dyads. We aimed to deepen the understanding of the mechanism involved in CG efficacy among peers by exploring the roles of Theory of Mind (ToM) and Vocabulary in CG formation during play. Participants engaged in a structured task probing CG production in an ambiguous setting. Findings show that ASD and Control dyads generate CG spontaneously, yet the Control group demonstrated greater efficiency by achieving common conceptualization faster and with fewer words. Age and CG measures were correlated, outlining CG development, and Path analysis models suggested independent contributions from Vocabulary and ToM to CG efficiency. Limitations include the task's structured nature, precluding a comprehensive assessment of language and visual perception abilities. Taken together, the findings highlight the potential for interventions targeting CG acquisition in ASD, which is crucial for daily life participation. Interventions could harness cognitive processes like vocabulary and ToM to enhance dialogue efficacy among children with ASD.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"845-856"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Semi-Automated Multi-Label Classification of Autistic Mannerisms by Machine Learning on Post Hoc Skeletal Tracking","authors":"Christian Lemler,&nbsp;Solvejg K. Kleber,&nbsp;Leonie Polzer,&nbsp;Naisan Raji,&nbsp;Janina Kitzerow-Cleven,&nbsp;Ziyon Kim,&nbsp;Simeon Platte,&nbsp;Christine M. Freitag,&nbsp;Nico Bast","doi":"10.1002/aur.70020","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70020","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Mannerisms describe repetitive or unconventional body movements like arm flapping. These movements are early markers of restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, assessing mannerisms reliably is challenging. Even after extensive training in behavioral observations, inter-rater agreements for mannerism items remain insufficient. The current study used machine learning (ML) to classify mannerisms from videotaped behavioral observations in children with ASD. We developed a classification scheme for mannerisms as ground truth and applied it to videotaped behavioral observations from an early intervention study. ML was used in two steps: First, the OpenPose algorithm post hoc extracted features based on body movements in the videos. Second, a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network classified the features in a multi-label approach to distinguish between the absence of mannerisms, flapping, jumping, and both flapping + jumping. The trained models achieved 70.2% accuracy (<i>F</i>1 score: 31.8%) using nested cross-validation. The analysis improves on previous videotaped ML classification studies by splitting training and test data subject-wise, highlighting its clinical applicability. The LSTM models are made publicly available for use with other video datasets. Our results show that ML-based classification of mannerisms is a promising tool for enhancing objective diagnostic methods of behavioral observations.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"833-844"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143626967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex-Differential Trajectories of Domain-Specific Associations Between Autistic Traits and Co-Occurring Emotional-Behavioral Concerns in Autistic Children","authors":"Yun-Ju Chen,&nbsp;Thomas W. Frazier,&nbsp;Peter Szatmari,&nbsp;Eric Duku,&nbsp;Annie E. Richard,&nbsp;Isabel M. Smith,&nbsp;Lonnie Zwaigenbaum,&nbsp;Rachael Bedford,&nbsp;Connor M. Kerns,&nbsp;Anat Zaidman-Zait,&nbsp;Terry Bennett,&nbsp;Mayada Elsabbagh,&nbsp;Tracy Vaillancourt,&nbsp;Stelios Georgiades","doi":"10.1002/aur.70018","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70018","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Assessing autistic traits alongside co-occurring emotional/behavioral concerns (EBCs) is challenging due to their overlap in clinical presentations, which can vary by age and sex. This study aimed to investigate domain-specific associations between autistic traits and EBCs–including anxiety, affective, attention-deficit/hyperactivity, and oppositional-defiant problems–across childhood in autistic boys and girls. We prospectively followed 389 children (84% male) diagnosed with autism at ages 2–5 years, using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) across eight timepoints until age 12. Moderated nonlinear factor analysis was used to identify and adjust for measurement non-invariance of SRS items by age, sex, and EBCs. The adjusted scores were then used for sex-moderated time-varying modeling of associations between autistic traits and EBCs. Several SRS items in the domains of social-interaction difficulties and repetitive mannerisms showed significant intercept bias by age and level of co-occurring anxiety and ADHD (effect size <i>r</i> &gt; 0.20). In autistic boys, strong associations were observed between social-communication difficulties and EBCs around ages 7–9, which tended to diminish in late childhood. In contrast, autistic girls showed stable or intensifying associations, particularly with anxiety, into late childhood. Results revealed significant associations between autistic traits and EBCs after addressing item-level measurement biases. The varying associations over time highlight the importance of continuous monitoring to promptly address autistic children's sex-differential mental health needs. These findings emphasize the benefits of refining behavioral constructs and adopting a nuanced developmental approach to identify critical periods of symptom coupling/decoupling for informing evaluation and service provision.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"820-832"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70018","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143626970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Slow but Steady: Similarities and Differences in Executive Functioning Between Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults","authors":"Robert M. Jertberg,&nbsp;Sander Begeer,&nbsp;Hilde M. Geurts,&nbsp;Bhismadev Chakrabarti,&nbsp;Erik Van der Burg","doi":"10.1002/aur.70015","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70015","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Prior research has established differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals across the domains of executive function (EF). While some early theories portrayed these differences as universal to the autism spectrum, recent findings have been quite mixed. Factors like small samples, the components of EF being measured, and the age and intelligence quotient (IQ) of those being compared may contribute to this diversity in results. Moreover, research suggests performance over time might fluctuate in different patterns for autistic and non-autistic individuals. To test EF differences and the possible influence of these factors upon them, we recruited a sample of over 900 autistic and non-autistic participants (with generally average/above average IQ levels) from 18 to 77 years of age. They completed a battery of tasks measuring inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and attentional orienting to social and nonsocial cues. We found that performance was similar between groups in our primary measures of EF, although autistic participants were consistently slower, more susceptible to the effects of spatial cueing, and more prone to certain errors in the working memory task. Differences between groups were generally not influenced by participants' age, gender, or IQ. Performance over time varied only in the working memory task. While autistic adults may still face related challenges in real life, these findings suggest that being autistic does not necessarily imply executive dysfunction on a basic cognitive level, contradicting theories assuming universal impairments therein. Moreover, the lack of influence of included demographic factors suggests that explanations for discrepancies in the literature lie elsewhere.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 4","pages":"802-819"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70015","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143626974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}