ArticleAutism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research2022
Pathways to adaptive functioning in autism from early childhood to adolescence.
Article in Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Autism, menstruation and mental health- a scoping review and a call to action.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Pooled it
- Chronological Age and Adaptive Outcomes Following Neuropsychomotor and Aquatic Interventions in Children with Autism: A Secondary Analysis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Inter-Individual Variability of Executive Functioning: a Possible Key to Understand Adaptive Behavior Across ASD and ADHD.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Cross-Cultural Comparison of Adaptive Behaviour Between British and Brazilian Clinical Samples With Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Child: care, health and development · 2025Article
- Temperament Profiles at Age 18 Months as Distinctive Predictors of Elevated ASD- and ADHD-Trait Scores and Their Co-Occurrence at Age 8-9: HBC Study.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Article
- Longitudinal Predictors of Adaptive Functioning in Emerging Adults with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Article
- Clinical and sociodemographic factors related to the timing of autism diagnosis in an Italian cohort of children.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Effects of Intelligence Levels and Autistic Severity on Adaptive Functioning and Cognitive-Adaptive Functioning Gaps in School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Article
- A Normative Model Representing Autistic Individuals Amidst Autism Spectrum Phenotypic Heterogeneity.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Predictors of health-related quality of life for children with neurodevelopmental conditions.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- What Factors Predict Adaptive Functioning in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder? A Longitudinal Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Understanding profound autism: implications for stigma and supports.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Disentangling global and domain-level adaptive behavior trajectories among children with autism spectrum disorder.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2023Article
- Pathways to adaptive functioning in autism from early childhood to adolescence.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Adaptive functioning is lower in many autistic individuals to a greater extent than would be expected based on IQ. However, the clinical features associated with these difficulties are less well understood. This study examines longitudinal and contemporaneous associations of adaptive functioning in autistic youth across a wide ability range. Parent-reported autism symptoms, co-occurring emotional, behavioral and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and IQ were assessed in early childhood (M age 7 years; T1) and 6 years later in adolescence (M age 13 years; T2) in 179 autistic youth. Adaptive functioning was assessed at T2. Structural equation modeling estimated pathways to adaptive functioning from autism, and psychiatric symptoms at T1 and T2, testing whether associations were driven by continuity of behaviors from T1 to T2 or their contemporaneous effect at T2, or both, controlling for T1 IQ. Lower adaptive functioning at T2 was associated with higher T1 and T2 ADHD symptoms (β = -0.14, and β = -0.21) but not behavioral nor emotional symptoms at either timepoint. Lower adaptive functioning at T2 was also associated with lower T1 IQ (β = 0.43) and higher social communication symptoms (β = -0.37) at T2 but not T1, but the relationship with ADHD symptoms remained. Paths were not moderated by sex or IQ. Increased symptoms of ADHD, both in early childhood and contemporaneously, were associated with reduced adaptive functioning in adolescence. Co-occurring ADHD may be a modifiable risk factor for adaptive function impairments and should be routinely assessed and when present evidence-based treatments initiated which may benefit adaptive functioning outcomes. LAY SUMMARY: Adaptive functioning is lower in many autistic individuals to a greater extent than would be expected based on IQ. However, the clinical features associated with these difficulties are less well understood. In a community sample higher attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, but not emotional or behavioral symptoms, in both early childhood and contemporaneously were associated with lower adaptive functioning in autistic adolescents. Co-occurring ADHD may be a modifiable risk factor for adaptive function difficulties in autism.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.