Selective Attentional Networks Deficits in Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence From Attention Network Test.

Objective: We primarily aimed to investigate the attention network function among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using the Attention Network Test (ANT). The secondary objective was to observe whether the three attention networks of all participants were related to each other.

Methods: We included 28 parents of children with ASD and 28 well-matched parents of typically developing children. All participants underwent the neuropsychological assessment and ANT test. The three distinct attention networks, including alerting, orienting, and executive control, were also measured.

Results: Compared with controls, parents of children with ASD showed less-efficient alerting and executive control network (all p<0.05), but not orienting network (p=0.74). No significant correlation was found between the alerting, orienting, and executive control network for either group.

Conclusion: Our findings showed that parents of children with ASD had deficits in alerting and executive control attention functions. The deficits are indications of a broad autism phenotype.