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Pre-pandemic Executive Function Protects Against Pandemic Anxiety in Children with and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated depression, anxiety, and executive function (EF) difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). EF skills have been positively associated with mental health outcomes. Here, we probed the psychosocial impacts of pandemic responses in children with and without ASD by relating pre-pandemic EF assessments with anxiety and depression symptoms several months into the pandemic. We found that pre-pandemic inhibition and shifting difficulties, measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, predicted higher risk of anxiety symptoms. These findings are critical for promoting community recovery and maximizing clinical preparedness to support children at increased risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on the Open Science Framework (OSF): https://osf.io/rcnze/ and on the NIMH Data Archive (NDA): https://nda.nih.gov/edit_collection.html?id=2342 (Cognitive and Neural Flexibility in Autism, Collection ID#: 2342).

Notes

  1. We acknowledge that the use of person-first language (e.g., “person with autism”) versus identity-first language (e.g., “autistic person”) has been subject to much debate (Bury et al., 2020; Kenny et al., 2016; Lei et al., 2021). Given there is no definitive consensus on the preferred language of individuals with ASD (Vivanti, 2020), throughout this paper we use person-first language to describe ASD.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Social Science Research Council Rapid-Response Grants on Covid-19, the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH107549) and a grant from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research awarded to Dr. Lucina Q Uddin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Miami, 5665 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA

    Celia Romero, Zachary T. Goodman, Bryce Dirks, Adriana Baez, Amy L. Beaumont, Sandra M. Cardona, Meaghan V. Parlade, Michael Alessandri, Jason S. Nomi & Lynn K. Perry

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Lauren Kupis & Lucina Q. Uddin

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  1. Celia Romero
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Romero, C., Kupis, L., Goodman, Z.T. et al. Pre-pandemic Executive Function Protects Against Pandemic Anxiety in Children with and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06175-4

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