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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the children and their families who contributed data to this study and also the authors of the BRIEF, Gerry Gioia, Peter Isquith and Steven Guy, for allowing access to the BRIEF normative data for this study. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute of Mental Health, the Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Foundation, registry grant NIMH 1RC1MH088791 to R. Schultz, a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (SAP # 4100042728) to R. Schultz, a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (SAP # 4100047863) to R. Schultz, a grant from Pfizer to R. Schultz, and a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, #6672 to R. Schultz.

Conflict of interest

Lauren Kenworthy receives financial compensation for use of the BRIEF. The other authors have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children’s National Medical Center, 15245 Shady Grove Road, Suite 350, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA

    Yael Granader, Kristina K. Hardy, Rachel A. Lawson, Michael Rosenthal, Meagan C. Wills & Lauren Kenworthy

  2. Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Gregory L. Wallace & Eunice Dixon

  3. Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Gregory L. Wallace

  4. Center for Autism Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Benjamin E. Yerys, Juhi Pandey, Rebecca Penna & Robert T. Schultz

  5. Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Rachel A. Lawson

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  1. Yael Granader
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  2. Gregory L. Wallace
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Correspondence to Yael Granader.

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Granader, Y., Wallace, G.L., Hardy, K.K. et al. Characterizing the Factor Structure of Parent Reported Executive Function in Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Impact of Cognitive Inflexibility. J Autism Dev Disord 44, 3056–3062 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2169-8

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