. 2020 Feb 22;30(4):497–538. doi: 10.1007/s00787-020-01487-7

Table 4.

Executive functioning

Study	Age at different assessments (in months)	Total number of participants	Number of EL siblings	Number of siblings with ASD outcome	Number of siblings with TD outcome	Number of siblings with another outcome^a	Topic	Assessment method	Diagnostic instruments	Difference EL-ASD vs EL-TD and/or predicts ASD diagnosis	Main findings
St. John et al. (2018) US [45]	12, 24	262	186	19	106	–	Executing functioning: working memory (WM), response inhibition	A-not-B task	ADOS-2, ADI-R, expert clinical judgment according to DSM-IV-TR	No	At 12 m no between-group difference in WM or response inhibition was found From 12 to 24 m the performance of TL, but not of EL-ASD and EL-TD improved At 24 m EL-ASD and EL-TD showed worse WM and inhibition performance compared to TL. No significant difference between EL-ASD and EL-TD was found

Study

Age at different assessments (in months)

Total number of participants

Number of EL siblings

Number of siblings with ASD outcome

Number of siblings with TD outcome

Number of siblings with another outcome^a

Topic

Assessment method

Diagnostic instruments

Difference EL-ASD vs EL-TD and/or predicts ASD diagnosis

Main findings

St. John et al. (2018) US [45]

12, 24

262

186

106

–

Executing functioning: working memory (WM), response inhibition

A-not-B task

ADOS-2, ADI-R, expert clinical judgment according to DSM-IV-TR

At 12 m no between-group difference in WM or response inhibition was found

From 12 to 24 m the performance of TL, but not of EL-ASD and EL-TD improved

At 24 m EL-ASD and EL-TD showed worse WM and inhibition performance compared to TL. No significant difference between EL-ASD and EL-TD was found

^aAtypical outcome: deficit in general cognition, motor functioning, language delay, Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP, social communication delay)