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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1470466
This article is part of the Research Topic Improving Outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorders for Adults View all 6 articles

Profile and development of adaptive behavior in adults with autism spectrum disorder and severe intellectual disability

Provisionally accepted
Jean-Louis Adrien Jean-Louis Adrien 1*Romuald Blanc Romuald Blanc 1Eric Thiébaut Eric Thiébaut 2
  • 1 Laboratoire of Psychopathology and Health Process, Institute of Psychology, University Paris City, Paris, France
  • 2 Laboratoire Lorrain de Psychologie et Neurosciences de la Dynamique des Comportements, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, Lorraine, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background. This study examined the profiles of adaptive behavior development in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and severe intellectual disability (ID), and the relationships between the levels of the different domains and subdomains of adaptive development and the intensity of autistic symptomatology. Participants. Seventy-one adults (44 men and 27 women with average ages of 39 years and 7 months and 36 years and 2 months, respectively) living in medico-social institutions and having a level of adaptive development corresponding to age below 3 years 4 months and a level of cognitive development corresponding to ages between 12 and 24 months. Methods. ASD was diagnosed using PDD-MRS and CARS, ID and its severity were determined based on the DSM-5 criteria and the very low cognitive development level assessed using the Socio-emotional Cognitive Evaluation Battery (Adrien, Pearson-ECPA, 2007), adapted for adults (SCEB-A). Adaptive development was assessed using the Vineland-II tool. Results. The adaptive development profile was heterogeneous: the median levels of the three domains of socio-adaptive development differed significantly from each other, and the domain of Daily Living was the most developed. Among the nine sub-domains, the weakest developmental levels corresponded to Expressive Language, Interpersonal Relationships, and Play/Leisure. By contrast, the highest levels corresponded to Writing and Personal and Domestic Autonomy. Significant and negative relationships were noted between the intensity of autism severity and the levels of development in Communication and Daily Living but not Socialization. These results are discussed to highlight the best-developed adaptive domains and those to be improved.

    Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Severe intellectual disability, Vineland-II, Profiles of socio-adaptive development, heterogeneity, autonomy, Socio-emotional and Cognitive Evaluation Battery-Adult - SCEB-A

    Received: 25 Jul 2024; Accepted: 29 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Adrien, Blanc and Thiébaut. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jean-Louis Adrien, Laboratoire of Psychopathology and Health Process, Institute of Psychology, University Paris City, Paris, France

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