BackgroundParents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently exhibit subclinical Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP) traits, though their relationship with executive function (EF) remains underexplored. This study investigated associations between parental BAP traits and their EF performance.MethodsThe Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) was used to assess the BAP traits in parents of children with ASD and parents of healthy children. Among them 20 of the high-BAP ASD parents with a total BAPQ score exceeding 3.55 and 20 of the parents of typically developing children completed executive function tests. The researchers utilized the flanker, 2-back, and Task-switching paradigm to examine their EF. Correlations analysis was used to analyze BAP-EF relationships.ResultsThe self-reported questionnaires indicated that parents of children with ASD had significantly higher BAPQ scores than non-ASD’s parents, with fathers scoring 41.21% versus 15% (χ2 = 31.628, p < 0.01), and mothers 26.25% versus 8.37% (χ2 = 25.764, p < 0.01). Parents of ASD children exhibited significantly prolonged reaction times on the Flanker task (528.95 ± 78.90 ms vs. 426.80 ± 18.40 ms, T = 15.639, p<0.01), with BAPQ total scores positively correlating with slower responses (R² = 0.2325, p = 0.0313). Paradoxically, they demonstrated accelerated 2-Back incongruent reaction times (537.60 ± 80.21 ms vs. 665.70 ± 137.17 ms, T = 6.715, p=0.001) but reduced accuracy (0.947 ± 0.037 vs. 0.983 ± 0.016, T = 16.875, p<0.01), where BAPQ again correlated with reaction times (R² = 0.2318, p = 0.0316). Crucially, these associations were absent in controls, and BAPQ scores showed no relationship with task accuracy in either group.ConclusionsBAP traits are associated with attentional control challenges (indexed by Flanker Task) and a maladaptive speed-accuracy tradeoffs during working memory demands.
Radically different