Characterizing the Factor Structure of Parent Reported Executive Function in Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Impact of Cognitive Inflexibility

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 44; no. 12; pp. 3056 - 3062
• Main Authors: Granader, Yael, Wallace, Gregory L., Hardy, Kristina K., Yerys, Benjamin E., Lawson, Rachel A., Rosenthal, Michael, Wills, Meagan C., Dixon, Eunice, Pandey, Juhi, Penna, Rebecca, Schultz, Robert T., Kenworthy, Lauren
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-12-2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Behavior Patterns; Behavior Rating Scales; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child Behavior; Child clinical studies; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - diagnosis; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive Ability; Comparative Analysis; Demographic aspects; Developmental disorders; Discriminant analysis; Executive Function; Executive function (Psychology); Executive Function - physiology; Factor Analysis; Factor Structure; Female; Goodness of Fit; Humans; Infantile autism; Laboratories; Male; Medical Evaluation; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Neurological Impairments; Neuropsychological Tests; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Parents; Pediatrics; Personality Inventory; Pervasive developmental disorders; Psychological Patterns; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public Health; Self Control; Short Term Memory; Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function; Cognitive flexibility; Factor analysis; Executive functioning; Autism spectrum disorder; Executive function; Questionnaire; Psychometrics; Developmental disorder; Cognition; Intellectual flexibility; Autism; Pervasive developmental disorder; Parent rating; Behavior
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2169-8

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) consistently report executive functioning (EF) deficits. This study investigates the factor structure of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) as reported by parents of children with ASD and typically developing children (TDC). BRIEFs for 411 children with ASD and 467 TDC were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis of a nine-factor model met thresholds for goodness-of-fit in TDC, but not in the ASD sample. We found globally elevated EF problems in the ASD sample, especially on the Shift scale. These findings confirm that children with ASD exhibit significant EF deficits. Further investigation is needed to understand the pervasive nature of cognitive inflexibility in children with ASD.