Different abilities needed at home and school: The relation between executive function and adaptive behaviour in adolescents with Down syndrome

Studies have shown that executive function abilities are related and have predictive power over adaptive behaviour in both typical and atypical populations. This study examined the relationship between executive functioning and adaptive behaviour in adolescents with Down syndrome, as it has not been studied before in this population. We propose and test a model of how each core EF (i.e., working memory, inhibition, and flexibility) contributes to each domain of AB (i.e., conceptual, social, and practical). We found that parent reported Conceptual skills were related to working memory, while teacher reported Conceptual and Practical skills were related to inhibition and flexibility. We hypothesise that these findings are related to the different requirements and expectations of the home and school environments: the more predictable home environment requires the adolescent to rely on working memory for his everyday activities, while the changing and challenging school environment requires the inhibition common behaviours and to flexibly change actions to be successful.