Introduction
Challenging behaviors like aggression or refusal to follow directions affect many children with Down syndrome and can make it harder for them to learn, gain independence, and enjoy daily life. This study looks at how thinking skills, especially executive functioning (like memory, planning, and self-control), may play a role in these behaviors. Researchers will use multiple ways to study this, including caregiver input, cognitive testing, and brain activity through EEG. The goal is to better understand what contributes to these behaviors so families and providers can better support children with Down syndrome.
Principal Investigators
Hannah Rea, PhD
About
Among the most common, understudied, and impairing behavioral phenotypes associated with Down syndrome is challenging behaviors (e.g., aggression, noncompliance), which occur in as many as 94% of children with Down syndrome. Challenging behaviors negatively impact the individual’s ability to acquire new skills, independence, and global functioning, impacting the quality of life of the individual and their family. However, little is known about risk factors for developing challenging behaviors in this population. Research in children with neurodevelopmental disorders without Down syndrome suggests that
decreased verbal IQ (VIQ) and nonverbal IQ (NVIQ) may be risk factors for the development of challenging behaviors. Another risk factor for challenging behaviors in children with ASD is executive functioning, or cognitive processes underlying goal-directed behavior. Executive functioning is an umbrella term and includes cognitive abilities such as planning, organization, working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. Thus, I propose to examine executive functioning as a moderator in the relationship between NVIQ and VIQ with challenging behaviors in children with Down syndrome. Additionally, research on EF in children with Down syndrome would benefit from multi-modal assessments and
latent variable modeling as there is heterogeneity in intellectual functioning and the two most common measurement types, proxy-report and neurocognitive assessments, assess different aspects of executive functioning. Electroencephalography (EEG) offers a promising objective measure of underlying cognitive processes both during and in the absence of responses (e.g., during inhibition). Thus, I propose a multi-modal and latent variable modeling approach that integrates caregiver report, neurocognitive assessment, and EEG.