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Autism Symptom Presentation and Hierarchical Models of Intelligence

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Abstract

Background

There is a substantial history studying the relationship between general intelligence and the core symptoms of autism. However, a gap in knowledge is how dimensional autism symptomatology associates with different components of clinically-relevant hierarchical models of intelligence.

Method

We examined correlations between autism diagnostic symptom magnitude (Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule; ADOS) and a hierarchical statistical model of intelligence. One autistic cohort was tested on the fourth edition of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV; N = 131), and another on the fifth edition (WISC-V; N = 83). We anticipated a convergent pattern of results between cohorts.

Results

On WISC-IV, ADOS scores were correlated significantly with g and three out of four intermediate factor scores, which was a broader pattern of correlations than anticipated from the literature. In the WISC-V cohort, only one intermediate factor correlated significantly with the ADOS; correlations with g and the other intermediate factors were less statistically certain. ADOS-factor correlations were larger in the WISC-IV than WISC-V cohort; this difference was significant at the 90% level.

Conclusions

WISC-IV shows dimensional relationships with ADOS at multiple points in the hierarchical model of intelligence. Moreover, the current results provide evidence that relationship between core autism symptomatology and the construct of general intelligence may depend on how intelligence is measured. Known cohort effects in the relationship between categorical autism diagnosis and general intelligence have previously been attributed to changes in autism diagnostic practices. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that differing versions of IQ tests may be implicated.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the Center for Neurodevelopmental and Imaging Research as well as Kennedy Krieger’s Department of Neuropsychology for sharing data in support of this work. Funding for this manuscript came from the National Institutes of Health grants R01MH113652 (to JBE) and P50 HD103538. Funding sources were not involved in the analysis or interpretation of data, writing of the report, or the decision to submit for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurology and Developmental Medicine, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Michael A. Levine & Joshua B. Ewen

  2. Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Huan Chen & Brian S. Caffo

  3. Center for Autism Service, Science and Innovation, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Ericka L. Wodka

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Ericka L. Wodka

  5. Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Joshua B. Ewen

  6. Division of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 E. Chicago Ave., Box 119, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Joshua B. Ewen

  7. Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Joshua B. Ewen

Authors
  1. Michael A. Levine
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  2. Huan Chen
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  3. Ericka L. Wodka
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  4. Brian S. Caffo
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  5. Joshua B. Ewen
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Contributions

MAL contributed to question development, literature review, results interpretation, manuscript writing. HC contributed to analysis design, analysis performance. ELW contributed to literature review, psychometric guidance, data provision, results interpretation, manuscript editing. BSC contributed to analysis development, analysis performance, results interpretation, manuscript editing. JBE contributed to question development, results interpretation, and manuscript writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joshua B. Ewen.

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Dr. Ewen is a member of the JADD editorial board.

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Levine, M.A., Chen, H., Wodka, E.L. et al. Autism Symptom Presentation and Hierarchical Models of Intelligence. J Autism Dev Disord (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06411-5

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