Executive functions and autism spectrum disorder in childhood: A multicentre and comparative study

Abstract

Several studies focused on the expression of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have indicated differences in expression between sexes. Lack of awareness of these differences could contribute to the underdiagnosis of ASD in females. This research aims to study executive functions in boys and girls with ASD, comparing them to the performance of girls with typical neurodevelopment. For this purpose, a descriptive cross-sectional study was chosen. The sample (N = 60) was divided into girls with ASD (n = 20), boys with ASD (n = 20) and girls with typical neurodevelopment (n = 20). The participants were evaluated using ENFEN, while their parents responded to the BRIEF 2 and a socio-demographic interview about their children’s behaviors. Among the results obtained, it is notable that planning and organization functions showed differences between children with ASD when the informants were their parents, while the results of the ENFEN indicate discrepancies in working memory. It is concluded that the influence of gender bias might be present when parents report on the behavioral performance of girls with ASD, with higher performance expected in females in tasks requiring planning.