Real-World Executive Functions in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Profiles of Impairment and Associations with Adaptive Functioning and Co-morbid Anxiety and Depression

• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2655-7
• Publication Date: 2015-11-16T14:00:58Z
• Authors: Gregory L. Wallace; Lauren Kenworthy; Cara E. Pugliese; Haroon S. Popal; Emily I. White; Emily Brodsky; Alex Martin
• Keywords: Adaptive functioning; Depression; Cognitive flexibility; High-functioning autism; Executive dysfunction

Although executive functioning (EF) difficulties are well documented among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), little is known about real-world measures of EF among adults with ASD. Therefore, this study examined parent-reported real-world EF problems among 35 adults with ASD without intellectual disability and their correlations with adaptive functioning and co-morbid anxiety and depression symptomatology. A variable EF profile was found with prominent deficits occurring in flexibility and metacognition. Flexibility problems were associated with anxiety-related symptoms while metacognition difficulties were associated with depression symptoms and impaired adaptive functioning (though the metacognition-adaptive functioning relationship was moderated by ADHD symptoms). These persistent EF problems are predictors of broader functioning and therefore remain an important treatment target among adults with ASD.