Funcionalidade em adultos com transtorno do espectro autista: relações entre traços autísticos, variáveis psicossociais e funcionamento cognitivo

Abstract

People diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) present difficulties with social interaction and behavioral inflexibility, manifested by impairments in social understanding, communication and behaviors that may be restricted, repetitive and/or stereotyped. The presence of these traits varies in quantity and intensity, in this way, the disorder is now understood within a dimensional vision. Thus, it is possible to find people with autism who presents with severe symptoms and therefore needs more support, as well as people who manifest milder traits and consequently fewer impairments. These individuals, considered by DSM-5 as autistic "level 1", were the focus of the present study. We aimed to: 1) perform a descriptive analysis of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Scale in a heterogeneous Brazilian sample, it is a scale that aims to support the diagnosis of cases with mild symptoms, and 2) verify their accuracy in the diagnosis of adults; 3) to characterize the neurocognitive profile of adults diagnosed with ASD and with high functioning; 4) also the psychosocial profile; 5) and functional of these individuals; 6) understand the relationship between autism symptoms, psychosocial, cognitive and adaptive functioning. For this, we divided the study into three phases. In the first two phases, we used an online platform for data collection and obtained 1,024 volunteers. Then, we evaluated 157 adults with ASD and 119 adults with neurotypical development, and 29 adults with ASD and 19 controls personally. Our results suggest that autism traits and functionality correlate with all the psychological variables investigated: symptoms of depression, anxiety and ADHD, satisfaction with life, cognitive failures, romantic love and facial/emotional perception. They also correlate with verbal and visuospatial working memory, and long-term memory. There were differences between groups in all psychological variables, but there was no difference in cognitive performance. The study of autism in adults has been growing in recent years and this is necessary because understanding the main difficulties and possible potentialities of this population promotes a better quality of life, satisfaction and when necessary, allows the choice of interventions that are more adequate.