Cognitive variability in adults with ADHD and AS: disentangling the roles of executive functions and social cognition.
Expect wide score scatter within the same adult client—ADHD for EF tasks, Asperger for social-cognition tasks—and plan targets around each person’s own peaks and valleys.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Gonzalez-Gadea et al. (2013) looked at adults with ADHD, adults with Asperger syndrome, and typical adults.
They gave everyone the same set of executive-function and social-cognition tests.
The team wanted to see how much each person’s own scores jumped around, not just the group average.
What they found
Adults with ADHD swung widely on executive-function tasks.
Adults with Asperger syndrome swung widely on theory-of-mind tasks.
Both clinical groups showed messy, uneven profiles compared with typical adults.
How this fits with other research
McGonigle-Chalmers et al. (2010) saw the same messy EF picture, but in kids. Their study came first, so Luz simply moved the question up to adults.
Wang et al. (2018) went further and linked the EF mess to visuospatial working memory in children. They showed the scatter is not noise—it predicts real memory problems.
Fong et al. (2020) turned the scatter into action: parent-rated EF gaps forecast social-skill gaps in kids. Luz’s adult data now hint you can do the same forecasting with adults.
Kouklari et al. (2018) found working memory predicts theory-of-mind in autistic kids. Luz shows this EF-ToM link still matters in autistic adults, plus adds ADHD as a second group.
Why it matters
Stop expecting one flat profile for “ADHD” or “Asperger” in your adult clients. One may ace planning yet bomb inhibition; another may pass false-belief tasks yet fail advanced emotion reading. Use wide test batteries and plot each person’s highs and lows. Then pick targets where their own scatter is biggest instead of using a one-size-fits-all program.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's Syndrome (AS) share a heterogeneous cognitive profile. Studies assessing executive functions (EF) and social cognition in both groups have found preserved and impaired performances. These inconsistent findings would be partially explained by the cognitive variability reported in these disorders. First, the present study explored the inter-individual variability in EF and social cognition in both patient groups. Second, we compared differential characteristics and commonalities in the cognitive profiles of EF and social cognition between ADHD, AS and control adults. We assessed 22 patients with ADHD, 23 adults with AS and 21 matched typically developing subjects using different measures of EF (working memory, cognitive flexibility and multitasking) and social cognition (theory of mind and decision-making). Group comparisons and multiple case series analyses (MCSA) were conducted. The between-group comparisons showed an EF deficit in working memory in ADHD and a theory of mind (ToM) impairment in AS. The MCSA evidenced that, compared to controls, ADHD patients had a higher inter-individual variability in EF, while individuals with AS had a more heterogeneous profile in social cognition tasks compared to both groups. Finally, the AS and ADHD groups presented higher task-related variability compared to controls and shared a common heterogeneous profile in EF. This is the first study to compare variability in EF and social cognition profiles of ADHD and AS. We propose that heterogeneity in EF performance is a link between ADHD and AS which may explain the overlap of symptomatology between both diagnoses. In addition, patients with AS seem to show a unique heterogeneous profile in ToM which may explain the low probability of finding AS symptoms in patients with ADHD.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.11.009