Date of Award

Spring 6-20-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology (PhD)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor/Committee Member

Keyne Law

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Beverly Wilson

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Jenny Lee Vaydich

Abstract

Introduction: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) are among the most common psychological disorders occurring in childhood (Bishop, 2010; Scandurra et al., 2019), and are commonly associated with a host of psychological challenges including deficits in executive functioning (Craig et al., 2016; Demetriou et al., 2019) as well as comorbid internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety (Katzman et al., 2017; Kirsch et al., 2020; Simonoff et al., 2008). Research has suggested that executive function deficits may contribute to symptoms of depression and anxiety and that this relation may be mediated by ruminative thinking styles (Snyder et al., 2019; von Hippel et al., 2008). To date, no studies have explored this potential relation in neurodiverse samples.

Methods: This study explores the potential relations between specific components of executive function, ruminative thinking style, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in a sample of adults between the age of 18 and 35 (n=138) diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Participants completed a questionnaire designed to assess executive functions, ruminative response styles, and internalizing symptoms

Results: Consistent with prior research in neurotypical samples (Yu et al., 2019), results supported the hypothesis that aspects of executive functioning would be directly related to symptoms of anxiety and depression. Results suggest that ruminative brooding, but not reflective rumination, mediated the relation between inhibitory control and symptoms of anxiety and depression. No indirect paths were found to be significant in models in which flexibility was specified as the independent variable. Finally, structural equation modeling did not suggest a difference between the mediative impact of ruminative brooding on the relation between inhibitory control and symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Discussion: This study builds on current literature linking specific deficits in executive functioning to patterns of ruminative brooding and reflection and examines their impact on internalizing symptoms in neurodiverse individuals. Analyses supported the hypothesis that executive dysfunction would be related to increased experience of internalizing symptoms, and partially supported the hypothesis that ruminative thinking styles would mediate this relation. These results highlight potential avenues for assessment and treatment of internalizing disorders in neurodivergent individuals.

Download

Share

COinS