O'Brien Meghan K, McQuaid Goldie A, McNulty Jessica R, Wallace Gregory L, Lee Nancy Raitano
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 May 17. doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-06799-8.
Autism spectrum disorder is associated with elevated rates of mental health difficulties and executive function challenges. Emerging evidence links executive function to mental health in autistic individuals. However, less is known about (a) everyday inhibitory control difficulties among autistic adults; (b) the influence of sex assigned at birth and co-occurring attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) features on inhibition challenges; and (c) relations between inhibition challenges and anxiety symptoms. Drawing upon data from 732 autistic adults aged 18-83, this online study examined self-reported inhibitory control in autistic adults and the influence of assigned sex and ADHD screening status (based on a positive screening score on a self-report tool) on the degree of inhibitory control challenges experienced. In addition, this research examined relations between inhibitory control challenges and anxiety symptoms, and the moderating role of assigned sex and ADHD screening status in this relationship. Autistic adults endorsed significantly more inhibitory control challenges relative to published norms. Participants assigned female reported more difficulties in inhibitory control relative to sex-adjusted normative expectations than participants assigned male. Participants who screened positive for ADHD reported more inhibitory control challenges than those who screened negative. Greater endorsement of inhibitory control challenges was associated with greater anxiety symptomatology; this relationship was moderated by ADHD screening status, but not by assigned sex. Inhibitory control is an area of difficulty in autistic adults and is associated with anxiety symptomatology, suggesting that inhibitory control may be a valuable intervention target to improve emotional well-being in autistic adults.
自闭症谱系障碍与心理健康问题发生率升高和执行功能挑战有关。新出现的证据将执行功能与自闭症个体的心理健康联系起来。然而，对于以下方面的了解较少：（a）自闭症成年人日常的抑制控制困难；（b）出生时指定的性别和共病的注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）特征对抑制挑战的影响；以及（c）抑制挑战与焦虑症状之间的关系。本在线研究利用732名年龄在18 - 83岁的自闭症成年人的数据，考察了自闭症成年人自我报告的抑制控制情况，以及指定性别和ADHD筛查状态（基于自我报告工具的阳性筛查分数）对所经历的抑制控制挑战程度的影响。此外，本研究还考察了抑制控制挑战与焦虑症状之间的关系，以及指定性别和ADHD筛查状态在这种关系中的调节作用。与已发表的标准相比，自闭症成年人认可的抑制控制挑战明显更多。相对于经性别调整的规范预期，被指定为女性的参与者在抑制控制方面报告的困难比被指定为男性的参与者更多。ADHD筛查呈阳性的参与者比筛查呈阴性的参与者报告了更多的抑制控制挑战。对抑制控制挑战的更高认可与更严重的焦虑症状相关；这种关系受到ADHD筛查状态的调节，但不受指定性别的调节。抑制控制是自闭症成年人的一个困难领域，并且与焦虑症状相关，这表明抑制控制可能是改善自闭症成年人情绪健康的一个有价值的干预目标。
