Gender Difference in the Association Between Executive Function and Autistic Traits in Typically Developing Children

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 1182 - 1192
• Main Authors: Dai, Meixia, Lin, Lizi, Liang, Jingjing, Wang, Zengjian, Jing, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2019; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Care and treatment; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child Development - physiology; Child health; Children; Cognition; Communication Problems; Comparative Analysis; Correlation; Executive Function; Executive function (Psychology); Executive Function - physiology; Female; Gender; Gender Differences; Humans; Interpersonal Competence; Male; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatric research; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Prediction; Psychology; Public Health; Sex Characteristics; Sex differences; Sex differences (Psychology); Sex Factors; Social aspects; Social Behavior; Social Cognition; Social cognitive theory; Social interactions; Social perception; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Executive functions; Children; Gender difference; Autistic trait
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3813-5

Autistic traits and executive function (EF) were assessed in 413 typically developing children aged 6–9 years. The children were divided into the high- autistic-trait (HAT) and low-autistic-trait (LAT) groups based on their total autistic traits. Results suggested that there were gender differences in specific autistic traits in children with LAT. There were gender-specific associations between EF and autistic traits in children with HAT: the set shifting of EF predicted difficulties in social awareness in boys; whereas all the EF components predicted difficulties in social communication and social cognition in girls. These findings may have implications for developing customized interventions that are targeted at specific autistic deficits in males and females.