More Than IQ: Executive Function Explains Adaptive Behavior Above and Beyond Nonverbal IQ in Youth With Autism and Lower IQ.
Jennifer R Bertollo, Benjamin E Yerys
PMID 31026201WHAT IT FOUND
In 100 youth with autism and lower IQ, parent-reported monitoring of behavior and its effect on others was linked to better communication and, less strongly, socialization after accounting for age and nonverbal IQ.
Daily living skills did not show this link.
Key findings
01For Communication, age and nonverbal IQ accounted for 32.3% of the differences in scores; adding the BRIEF scales accounted for an additional 9.3% of the differences, and Monitor was the only significant scale.
02For Daily Living Skills, adding the BRIEF scales accounted for an additional 9.5% of the differences, but this was not statistically significant and no individual BRIEF scale was significant.
03For Socialization, adding the BRIEF scales accounted for an additional 18.3% of the differences, and Monitor was marginally significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was 100 youth, smaller than prior work on autism with average or higher IQ. It was a secondary analysis of existing data, so the measures were not chosen for this question. Executive function and adaptive behavior were measured only by parent report, and the same rater completed both forms in 85.4% of cases, which can inflate associations. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that executive function changes adaptive behavior over time. The Monitor scale and social communication measures overlap in content, and the paper says this overlap may inflate relationships. Inclusion allowed Full-Scale IQ 75 or lower, so some children may have had close to average IQ in one domain but lower in another.
Declared interests
The supplied publication types list N.I.H. extramural and non-U.S. government research support. No author conflicts of interest statement is included in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the Monitor finding as proof that monitoring training improves communication or socialization. The study was cross-sectional, used parent report, and did not test an intervention.