(PS4-48) Impact of Self-reported Executive Function on Self-reported Anxiety Symptoms in Autistic Individuals

An individual’s executive functioning (EF) abilities greatly impact cognitive, behavioral, and social functioning outcomes.  Autistic youth are frequently at higher risk for EF challenges. Within this population, EF challenges increase and become more prevalent into adulthood, as demands increase with age. EF difficulties have been shown to be potent predictors of mental health concerns such as anxiety in neurotypical populations. These associations have also been reported in autistic youth. Although the importance of self-report of both anxiety and EF in autistic youth has been established, there is a current gap in the literature regarding the use of self-reported EF as a predictor of self-reported anxiety in autistic youth. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between self-reported executive functioning and self-reported experience of anxiety in an autistic sample.  

This sample consists of 182 participants, aged 14 to 21 (M=16.16 SD=1.24) with a confirmed ASD diagnosis. Teens completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF-2) as the primary measure of EF and the Anxiety Scale for Children with Autism (ASC-ASD) as the primary measure for anxiety. The BRIEF-2 breaks down EF into three indices, behavior regulation, emotion regulation, and cognitive regulation. The sample consisted of 28.5% females, 65.5% males, and 6% gender diverse individuals. The sample was 71.9% white and had an FSIQ ≥ 65 (range: 65-141). Correlational analyses showed that self-reported total anxiety was significantly related to the self-reported Emotional Regulation Index (r =.560, p = < .001), Behavioral Regulation Index (r =.465, p = < .001) and the Cognitive Regulation Index (r =.375, p = < .001). Regressions further indicated that self-reported challenges on the Emotion Regulation, Behavior Regulation, and Cognitive Regulation indices predicted self-reported experience of anxiety beyond age and gender (b= .554, t = 8.603, p </span>= < .001, R^2=.304), (b=.490, t = 6.395, p </span>= .< .001, R^2=.197), (b= .384, t = 4.665, p = < .001, R^2 = .118). Results demonstrate that globally, EF is a predictor of self-reported anxiety in autistic youth. These findings highlight the importance of EF interventions in autistic teenagers which may support a decrease in anxiety symptoms for autistic youth. This in turn would lead to improved emotional, behavioral, and social outcomes.