Relationship of Autistic Traits with Cognitive Flexibility and Other Executive Functions in Adolescents with Social...

The aim of this study was to compare cognitive flexibility and executive functions in adolescents diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD) who have autistic traits with those who do not, and to investigate whether there is a significant difference compared to healthy controls.

The study included 36 adolescents diagnosed with SAD and 36 healthy controls. All participants completed the Cognitive Flexibility Scale (CFS), and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale was administered to the SAD group. Neuropsychological tests including the Stroop Test TBAG Form, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices Test, and Visual-Auditory Digit Span Test-B were applied. Autistic traits were assessed using the Autism Spectrum Quotient-Adolescent’s Version (AQ-Adolescent) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale.

There was no statistically significant difference in CFS scores between the social anxiety disorder and control groups. The SAD group showed poorer performance in the subdomains of the WCST. Additionally, in all subtestes of the Stroop test, the SAD group took significantly longer to complete the test. The AQ-Adolescent scores were significantly higher in the SAD group compared to the controls. In 25% (n=9) of the cases, autistic traits were above the cutoff. There were no significant difference in neuropsychological test results between the groups who have and do not have autistic traits within the case group. A weak negative correlation was found between the Liebowitz total and avoidance subscale scores and the AQ-imagination and attention to detail scores, while no correlation was found between the Liebowitz dimensions and CFS scores.

This is the among the first studies to examine autistic traits and executive functions among adolescents with SAD. While no difference was found in cognitive flexibility scale scores between the SAD and control groups, the SAD group showed poorer performance in tests measuring other executive functions. However, this difference was not significantly influenced by the presence of autistic traits.