Indirect Effects of Task-switching on Reading Comprehension via Decoding Skills among Adolescents with Autism

Purpose: We examined whether variation in task-switching indirectly predicted variation in reading comprehension by way of variation in decoding, and furthermore, whether this effect differed among adolescents with ASD compared to an age-matched control group. Methods: We examined whether the association between task-switching and reading comprehension was mediated by decoding among a sample of autistic adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N = 45, Mage = 14.9 years) and an age-matched comparison group (N = 43, Mage = 14.3 years). Analyses were conducted using path models to test for direct effects of decoding and task switching on reading comprehension, as well as indirect effects of task-switching on reading comprehension by way of decodingResults: Though the indirect effect did not significantly differ between the ASD and comparison groups, the indirect effect of task-switching on reading comprehension via decoding was only significant among adolescents with ASD. This suggest that task-switching plays a particularly prominent role in decoding and reading comprehension among adolescents with ASD. Conclusion: Though further work is necessary to replicate this effect, the findings may have implications for interventions that may target improvements in word reading abilities as a means for improving reading comprehension outcomes among youth with ASD.