Torske Tonje, Nærland Terje, Øie Merete G, Stenberg Nina, Andreassen Ole A
Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Drammen, Norway.
NevSom Department of Rare Disorders and Disabilities, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2018 Jan 10;11:258. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00258. eCollection 2017.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by social dysfunction. Even though executive dysfunction has been recognized as important in understanding ASD, the findings are inconsistent. This might be due to different definitions of executive function (EF), which part of EF that has been studied, structured vs. unstructured tasks, inclusion of different moderators (age, IQ, sex) and different diagnostic categories within the spectrum. The main finding is that people with ASD have more EF difficulties than normal controls and more difficulties on open-end tasks than on structured cognitive tasks. Since some EF difficulties may not be observable in a laboratory setting, informant measures might have higher ecological validity than neuropsychological tests. Evidence suggests that executive dysfunctions are associated with social impairments, but few studies have investigated the details of this relationship, and it remains unclear what types of EF deficits are relevant for the social problems of individuals with ASD. Here we investigated which EF domains were associated with various domains of social function on parent-rated measures. A total of 86 children and adolescents with a diagnosis of ASD were included and tested for general cognitive abilities. Parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Multiple regression analysis revealed significant associations between SRS scores and age, sex, total IQ and the BRIEF indexes. The Metacognition Index from the BRIEF added significantly to the prediction of the SRS total score and the subscales Social Communication, Social Motivation and Autistic Mannerisms. The findings suggest that metacognitive aspects of EF are of particular importance for social abilities in children and adolescents with ASD. Earlier research has shown that typically developing (TD) children have a different relationship between EF and social function than children with ASD. They found that in TD children the EF domain related to behavioral regulation was most important to social function. The results from the current study may have implications for understanding the cognitive components of the social problems that define ASD, and may be relevant in developing more targeted clinical EF interventions related to core ASD dysfunctions.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的特征是社交功能障碍。尽管执行功能障碍在理解ASD方面已被认为很重要，但研究结果并不一致。这可能是由于执行功能（EF）的定义不同、所研究的EF部分、结构化与非结构化任务、纳入不同的调节因素（年龄、智商、性别）以及谱系内不同的诊断类别。主要发现是，患有ASD的人比正常对照组有更多的EF困难，并且在开放式任务上比在结构化认知任务上有更多困难。由于一些EF困难在实验室环境中可能无法观察到， informant测量可能比神经心理学测试具有更高的生态效度。有证据表明执行功能障碍与社交障碍有关，但很少有研究调查这种关系的细节，并且尚不清楚哪些类型的EF缺陷与ASD个体的社交问题相关。在这里，我们调查了在家长评定量表上哪些EF领域与社交功能的各个领域相关。总共纳入了86名被诊断为ASD的儿童和青少年，并对他们进行了一般认知能力测试。家长完成了执行功能行为评定量表（BRIEF）和社会反应量表（SRS）。多元回归分析显示SRS分数与年龄、性别、总智商和BRIEF指数之间存在显著关联。BRIEF的元认知指数对SRS总分以及社会沟通、社会动机和自闭症行为子量表的预测有显著贡献。研究结果表明，EF的元认知方面对患有ASD的儿童和青少年的社交能力尤为重要。早期研究表明，典型发育（TD）儿童的EF与社交功能之间的关系与ASD儿童不同。他们发现，在TD儿童中，与行为调节相关的EF领域对社交功能最为重要。当前研究的结果可能有助于理解定义ASD的社交问题的认知成分，并且可能与开发与ASD核心功能障碍相关的更有针对性的临床EF干预措施有关。
