Associations between Executive Function and Attention Abilities and Language and Social Communication Skills in Young Autistic Children

Although it has been found that autistic children exhibit delays in executive function abilities and atypical patterns of attention, less is known about the relationship between executive function and attention abilities and social and language skills in early childhood. In this study, 180 autistic children, age 2-8 years, participated in a study examining the relationship between executive function abilities, measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, and assessments of sustained attention measured via eye-tracking and several language and social communication measures. Results revealed that children with higher caregiver-reported executive function skills, specifically, working memory and planning/organization abilities, demonstrated higher levels of caregiver-reported receptive-expressive social communication abilities measured via the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory. Higher executive function abilities across all domains were associated with lower levels of social pragmatic problems. Children who were able to sustain their attention for a longer duration demonstrated higher expressive language abilities. These results suggest that executive function and attention skills may play an important role in multiple domains of functioning in autistic children. It will be useful to determine whether therapies that seek to improve executive function skills in autistic individuals also positively influence their social/communication and language abilities.