Difficulties in adaptive functioning are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and contribute to negative outcomes across the lifespan. Research indicates that cognitive ability is related to degree of adaptive functioning impairments, particularly in young children with ASD. However, the extent to which other factors, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and ASD symptom severity, predict impairments in adaptive functioning remains unclear. The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which SES, ASD symptom severity, and cognitive ability contribute to variability in domain-specific and global components of adaptive functioning in preschool-aged children with ASD. Participants were 99 preschool-aged children (2–6 years) with ASD who attended a tertiary diagnostic service. Results demonstrate that cognitive ability accounted for a significant proportion of variance in domain-specific and global components of adaptive functioning, with higher cognitive ability predicting better adaptive functioning. Results also demonstrate that SES accounted for some variability in domain-specific communication skills and global adaptive functioning when compared to basic demographic factors alone (age and gender). By contrast, ASD symptom severity did not predict variability in domain-specific or global components of adaptive functioning. These findings provide support for a relationship between cognitive ability and adaptive functioning in preschool-aged children with ASD and help to explain specific contributions of verbal and nonverbal ability to adaptive functioning; from this, we can better understand which children are likely to show the greatest degree of impairments across components of adaptive functioning early in development.

中文翻译：

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自闭症谱系障碍学龄前儿童适应性功能的预测因素

适应性功能障碍在自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 中很常见，并且会导致整个生命周期的负面结果。研究表明，认知能力与适应性功能障碍的程度有关，特别是在患有 ASD 的幼儿中。然而，其他因素，如社会经济地位 (SES) 和 ASD 症状严重程度，在多大程度上预测适应性功能受损仍不清楚。本研究的目的是确定 SES、ASD 症状严重程度和认知能力对学龄前 ASD 儿童适应性功能的特定领域和全局组成部分的变异性的影响程度。参与者是 99 名接受三级诊断服务的 ASD 学龄前儿童（2-6 岁）。结果表明，认知能力在适应功能的特定领域和全局组成部分的方差中占很大比例，较高的认知能力预测更好的适应功能。结果还表明，与单独的基本人口因素（年龄和性别）相比，SES 解释了特定领域沟通技巧和全球适应功能的一些变化。相比之下，ASD 症状严重程度并不能预测适应性功能的特定领域或全局组成部分的变异性。这些发现为学龄前 ASD 儿童的认知能力和适应功能之间的关系提供了支持，并有助于解释语言和非语言能力对适应功能的具体贡献；由此，