title: Cognitive flexibility impairments in children with autism spectrum disorders: links to age, gender and child outcomes.
abstract: There are still many questions about the cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that remain unanswered. The goal of current study was to evaluate cognitive flexibility patterns and their demographic, clinical and behavioral correlates in large sample of children with ASD. A total of 123 children (94 boys and 29 girls) with ASD aged 7-14 years were assessed on the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST). Findings showed that gender but not age was associated with the cognitive flexibility performance in ASD. Individuals who had more parent-reported language deficits, lower level of intelligence and education, and showed lower daily sleep time or more engagement in solitary instead of social daily activities were more likely to demonstrate perseveration. Findings provide tentative evidence of a link between cognitive flexibility deficits and sociodemographic or clinical child outcomes in ASD.
authors.affiliation: Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: amirmemari@farabi.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Amir Hossein
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Memari
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ziaee
authors.forename: Monir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shayestehfar
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghanouni
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mansournia
authors.forename: Pouria
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moshayedi
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Child outcomes; Cognitive flexibility; Gender difference; Perseveration