The Gap Between Cognition and Adaptive Behavior in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for Social Anxiety and the Moderating Effect of Autism Traits

Zukerman, Gil; Yahav, Gili; Ben‐Itzchak, Esther

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04632-y

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 108 publications

(111 reference statements)

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“…Poor adaptive behavior in both conditions has been attributed to deficits in intellectual functioning (as measured by Intellectual Quotient -IQ). However, recent studies in ASD indicated that individuals without intellectual disabilities show poorer adaptive behavior to what would be expected for their cognitive ability level (Kanne et al, 2011;Kraper et al, 2017;McQuaid et al, 2021;Nyrenius & Billstedt, 2020;Pathak et al, 2019;Zukerman et al, 2021). What is more, problems in adaptive behavior in ASD individuals with average/high IQ persist throughout the development (McQuaid et al, 2021;Nyrenius & Billstedt, 2020;Pathak et al, 2019;Zukerman et al, 2021), suggesting that the low IQ does not suffice to explain the limitations in adaptive functioning.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in daily life executive functioning between people with autism and people with schizophrenia

Yon-Hernández

Wojcik

García-García

et al. 2022

J Autism Dev Disord

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This is a comparative analysis of everyday executive functioning between individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) and controls using Dysexecutive Questionnaire-Spanish (DEX-Sp), to identify patterns of difficulties. Also we assessed the relationship between EF and adaptive behavior as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scale-II. Common areas of everyday executive functions were established as problematic in individuals with ASD and SSD related to Disinhibition and Apathy, while Disorganization and Impulsivity was gravely affected in ASD group only. The degree of Dysexecutive Syndrome was predictive of adaptive behavior in ASD group only. These suggest that DEX-Sp could be a useful tool in differentiating areas of strength and weaknesses in clinical groups such as ASD and SDD.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in daily life executive functioning between people with autism and people with schizophrenia

Yon-Hernández

Wojcik

García-García

et al. 2022

J Autism Dev Disord

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“…Overestimating autistic children's adaptive behavior skills based on their IQ scores may cause caregivers and service providers to underestimate the supports that autistic children need (Alvares et al, 2020). In turn, this lack of support may lead to increased anxiety and depression (Zukerman et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motor skills predict adaptive behavior in autistic children and adolescents

2022

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It is well‐documented that intelligence quotient (IQ) is a poor predictor of adaptive behavior scores in autism, with autistic children having lower adaptive behavior scores than would be predicted based on their IQ scores. Differences in motor skills may explain the variability in their adaptive behavior scores. The current study examined how motor skills might explain autistic individuals' low adaptive behavior scores and which individual components of IQ (i.e., verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning) and motor skills (i.e., manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and balance) may drive this effect. We examined the associations between IQ, motor skills, calibrated severity, and adaptive behavior scores in 45 autistic children and adolescents. Using a t‐test, we found a significant difference (p <0.001) between full‐scale IQ and adaptive behavior scores, indicating that our participants' adaptive behavior scores were lower than would be expected given their full‐scale IQ. Using a linear regression, we investigated whether motor skills predicted adaptive behavior in autistic children and adolescents and found that motor skills scores were associated with adaptive behavior scores (p = 0.022). To further investigate these associations, we used another linear regression to examine how individual components of IQ and motor skills predicted adaptive behavior scores in autistic children and adolescents. Our results indicated that manual dexterity scores were associated with adaptive behavior scores (p = 0.036). These findings clearly illustrate the need for further understanding of autistic individuals' difficulties with adaptive behavior and the potential role of motor skill difficulties that may underlie these difficulties. Lay Summary Autistic children have lower adaptive behavior scores (e.g., daily living skills, social skills, communication) than intelligence scores (e.g., verbal and perceptual skills) along with difficulties with motor skills. Motor skills may explain the gap between adaptive behavior and intelligence. We found motor skills were associated with adaptive behavior in autistic children and adolescents. In particular, hand coordination was associated with adaptive behavior. We need to better understand how autistic individuals' motor skills impact their adaptive behavior to provide effective supports.

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“…In this context, understanding the mechanisms and processes that connects autism and social anxiety spectra may help modify current treatments or develop novel interventions to enhance the quality of life of affected individuals. Moreover, since the comorbidity of ASD and SAD raises the likelihood of developing other clinical issues such anxiety and mood disorders, drug or alcohol abuse, having a lower quality of life [48,90], and a higher risk of suicide [91], the timely treatment of this early-onset problem has the potential to significantly lower the burden of psychiatric illness in later life and reduce the substantial burden of disability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that the combined presence of ASD and SAD may imply worse treatment outcomes compared to patients with only one condition [45][46][47][48], a better understanding of overlapping features between the two conditions, including patterns of association between specific clusters of symptoms, seems crucial. Shedding light on the connections between the spectra of autism and social anxiety in this context may help to change current prevention and diagnostic strategies, eventually opening the way to new treatment approaches that could improve the quality of life of those affected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of Social Anxiety Symptoms in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Is There a Predictive Role of Interpersonal Sensitivity and Substance Abuse?

Carpita,

Cremone,

Nardi

et al. 2023

Brain Sciences

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Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been frequently reported by subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, interestingly, the overlap between social anxiety and autistic traits may sometimes impede ASD diagnosis in subjects without intellectual or language impairment. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the presence and correlates of social phobic features among subjects with ASD, with a specific focus on evaluating which social anxiety symptoms may be statistically predictive of an ASD diagnosis. With this purpose, 48 subjects with ASD and 48 gender- and age- matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited and assessed with the SHY-SV and the AdAS Spectrum questionnaires. Results highlighted higher scores in all SHY-SV Spectrum domains and total scores for the ASD group. Moreover, AdAS Spectrum scores were significantly correlated with all SHY-SV domain and total scores. A logistic regression analysis highlighted the SHY-SV Interpersonal sensitivity and Substance Abuse domains scores as significant positive predictors of an ASD diagnosis. These results confirm the link between ASD and SAD. Because of this association, particular attention should be paid to subjects with high interpersonal sensitivity traits and substance abuse problems.

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The Gap Between Cognition and Adaptive Behavior in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for Social Anxiety and the Moderating Effect of Autism Traits

Cited by 9 publications

References 108 publications

Differences in daily life executive functioning between people with autism and people with schizophrenia

Differences in daily life executive functioning between people with autism and people with schizophrenia

Motor skills predict adaptive behavior in autistic children and adolescents

Implications of Social Anxiety Symptoms in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Is There a Predictive Role of Interpersonal Sensitivity and Substance Abuse?

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