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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

13-03-2025 | Original Article

Social Functioning in Autistic Children with Below-Average vs. Average IQ: Limited Behavioral and Neural Evidence of Group Differences

Auteurs: Alexandra P. Key, Dorita Jones, Blythe A. Corbett

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

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Abstract

Despite the relatively high rates of intellectual disability (ID) in autism, research studies and clinical trials commonly exclude autistic participants with below-average IQ. This study aimed to characterize the effect of intellectual ability on social functioning in autistic adolescents assessed using behavioral and neural measures. Caregiver reports and direct standardized behavioral assessments of social abilities along with event-related potential measures of social and nonsocial information processing were obtained in school-age children with autism and ID (n = 41) matched on age, sex, and autism symptom severity to autistic participants with average IQ (n = 41). Full-scale IQ differences did not affect caregiver reports of social functioning in daily life. Group differences were observed only for the direct behavioral assessments of social perception and cognition (NEPSY Memory for Faces delayed, Theory of Mind) as well as social behavior with an unfamiliar friendly confederate, where higher IQ was associated with better performance. Similarly, the impact of IQ on neural responses was limited to a minimal delay in the processing speed of all visual stimuli and the magnitude of differences between social and nonsocial images, but not on incidental memory for the repeated stimuli. The effects of IQ on behavioral or neural responses did not vary based on biological sex. Below-average full-scale IQ in autistic youth affects results of some but not all behavioral or neural measures probing social functioning. Therefore, enrolling participants with a wider range of intellectual ability could be feasible in future studies.
Voetnoten
1
Given the ongoing debate regarding the use of person-first or identity-first language when describing individuals on the autism spectrum (Dwyer, 2022; Taboas et al., 2023), we have opted to take a mixed terminology approach where the terms autism, autism spectrum disorder and autistic are used interchangeably.
 
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Metagegevens
Titel
Social Functioning in Autistic Children with Below-Average vs. Average IQ: Limited Behavioral and Neural Evidence of Group Differences
Auteurs
Alexandra P. Key
Dorita Jones
Blythe A. Corbett
Publicatiedatum
13-03-2025
Uitgeverij
Springer US
Gepubliceerd in
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Print ISSN: 0162-3257
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-3432
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-025-06755-6