Profiles of Caregiver-Reported Executive Function in Children with Down Syndrome

Area of Science:

• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Cognitive psychology
• Pediatric medicine

Background:

• Children with Down syndrome (DS) frequently encounter executive function (EF) deficits.
• Executive functions are crucial for adaptive daily living and academic success.
• Understanding EF heterogeneity in DS is vital for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the existence of distinct executive function (EF) profiles in children with Down syndrome (DS).
• To identify demographic and biomedical factors associated with different EF profiles in DS.

Main Methods:

• Latent profile analysis was used to model caregiver-reported executive function (EF) T-scores.
• The study included 69 children with DS, aged 3-10 years.
• Auxiliary analyses explored associations between demographic/biomedical factors and profile membership.

Main Results:

• A two-profile solution best fit the data: a "Working Memory Only" profile (43%) and a "Multi-Domain" profile (57%).
• The Multi-Domain profile was characterized by elevated scores in planning, inhibition, and working memory.
• Congenital heart defects were linked to a higher likelihood of belonging to the Multi-Domain profile.

Conclusions:

• Executive function (EF) presents heterogeneously in children with Down syndrome (DS).
• Two distinct EF profiles were identified, suggesting varied cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
• The association with congenital heart defects highlights potential biomedical influences on EF in DS.