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Metacognition Mediates the Effect of Social Communication and Internalizing Behaviors on Self-management of Daily Life Tasks for Diploma-Track Autistic Youth

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Abstract

Social communication and executive functioning challenges as well as co-occurring anxiety/depression may make acquiring the skills needed to manage daily life tasks difficult for diploma-track autistic youth, thus limiting their participation in adult roles. This study describes the associations between executive function, social communication skills, and internalizing behaviors on task management in academically capable autistic adolescents (n = 46) using multiple regression with mediator analysis. The three predictors and youth age explained a moderate amount of variance in task management. Metacognition mediated the effect of social communication skills and internalizing behaviors on task management. Relations between underlying factors that influence self-management of daily life tasks are complex, supporting the need for multifaceted assessment and intervention approaches for academically capable autistic youth.

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Notes

  1. Identity first language used per Kenny et al. (2016)

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Acknowledgments

This study was part of Elizabeth Munsell’s dissertation at Boston University. This research was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R34A160113 to Gael Orsmond. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

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  1. Occupational Therapy Department, College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College, Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Elizabeth G. S. Munsell, Gael I. Orsmond, Daniel Fulford & Wendy J. Coster

  2. Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel Fulford

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  1. Elizabeth G. S. Munsell
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  2. Gael I. Orsmond
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All authors contributed to the development of study methods. EGSM completed data analysis and led manuscript writing. All authors participated in data analysis interpretation and manuscript review and editing. All authors approved the manuscript to be submitted and published.

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Correspondence to Elizabeth G. S. Munsell.

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Munsell, E.G.S., Orsmond, G.I., Fulford, D. et al. Metacognition Mediates the Effect of Social Communication and Internalizing Behaviors on Self-management of Daily Life Tasks for Diploma-Track Autistic Youth. J Autism Dev Disord 52, 4274–4285 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05306-z

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