The Role of Everyday Executive Function in Observed Social Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Recent research suggests there may be differences in the social presentations of autistic males and females. Camouflaging is believed to account for some of these differences and executive function (EF) may support compensatory social behaviors. As few studies have explored the role of sex and everyday EF when evaluating specific social difficulties among autistic youth, the present study seeks to address this. The Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2) was used to measure types of social difficulties and the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2 (BRIEF-2) served as a measure of everyday EF. Four three-step hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted with SRS-2 social subscales as dependent variables. Autism symptom severity, BRIEF-2 EF Indices (i.e., behavioral, emotional, and cognitive regulation), and sex served as independent variables. Types of EF impairment significantly predicted social symptoms of autism. Behavioral dysregulation predicted all social symptoms assessed, cognitive dysregulation predicted social awareness and communication challenges, and emotion dysregulation predicted social motivation and communication difficulties. Sex significantly predicted social communication and cognition challenges, beyond the contributions of age, IQ, autism severity, and EF impairment. Findings from this study provide evidence for the contribution of EF to observed social symptoms of autism. Results suggest there may be sex-based differences in the relationship between EF and social problems for autistic youth. Implications and future directions are discussed.