Executive functions in parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that its etiology has not been determined definitively. The studies that have been conducted on the characteristics of relatives of people with ASD have shown that relatives of people with ASD have a subthreshold of this disorder symptom. Aim: The present study was aimed to compare executive functions among parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder. The statistical population included the parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder in Sanandaj city. Method: The sample consisted of 30 parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (11 males and 19 females) and 30 parents of children without autism spectrum disorders (10 males and 20 females) that selected and matched by available sampling. In order to gather data, cognitive abilities questionnaire (Nejati, 2012) was used and data were analyzed by MANOVA. Results: The results indicated that differences in mean of inhibitory control and selective attention (P<0.05), decision making (P<0.001), planning (P<0.001), sustained attention (P<0.001) and cognitive flexibility (P<0.001) among parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder were significant. Conclusion: The results of this study support the broader autism phenotype and autism spectrum disorder continuum hypothesis. In addition, findings show that pay attention to the psychological qualities of parents of children with ASD is the important.