Emotion Regulation and Executive Function
Emotion Regulation and Executive Function in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Pathological Demand Avoidance Traits
UCL Doctorate Thesis in Clinical Psychology by Anna Goodson
Extracts from impact Statement
The overarching aim of this research was to contribute to current understanding of cognitive processes and behaviours relevant to young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)...
A literature review investigated self- and parent-reported Emotion Regulation (ER) in children and young people with ASD. Overall, ER appeared to be impaired in young people with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) children...
The empirical study was the first to investigate the relationship between parent- reported Executive Function (EF) and Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) behaviours in children with ASD. Overall, children with ASD and PDA traits appeared to have more EF deficits than non-ASD children, suggesting that difficulties with EF should be considered when offering support to children and families. ...when assessing non-compliance behaviour, it could be useful for clinicians to consider firstly what the demand is, and then which EF skills are needed.
This study raised awareness of some of the difficulties that children with ASD and PDA traits face, and the need for the development of more helpful support strategies...
Author: Anna Goodson
Published: University College London, 2018