ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
This article is part of the Research TopicSensory Processing in Autism: Mechanisms, Impacts and InterventionsView all 9 articles
Sensory processing atypicalities and social responsiveness in autism spectrum disorder: the mediation of executive function
Provisionally accepted
- Children Developmental and Behavioral Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly display challenges in social interaction, executive functioning, and sensory processing. Nevertheless, the interrelationships among these domains are not yet fully understood. This study aimed to elucidate whether sensory processing affects social functioning in children with ASD through the mediating role of executive functioning. Methods: A total of 88 children and adolescents with ASD, aged 7 to 14 years, were enrolled. Parent-re-ported measures included the social responsiveness scale (SRS; social functioning), the behavior rating inventory of executive function–second edition (BRIEF-2; executive functioning), and the sensory profile–second edition (SP-2; sensory processing). Mediation analysis was conducted to examine the proposed relationships. Results: The results indicated that emotional regulation, a component of executive functioning, fully mediated the relationship between sensory avoiding and social responsiveness, whereas it partially mediated the relationship between sensory registration and social responsiveness. Additionally, behavioral regulation, another dimension of executive functioning, partially mediated the effects of both sensory avoiding and sensory registration on social responsiveness. These relationships remained significant after controlling for gender, age, and intelligence. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of both sensory processing and executive functioning in the social responsiveness of children with ASD. The results suggest a potential mechanistic framework in which executive functions serve as a mediating factor between sensory processing and social behavior in this population.
Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children, Executive Function, Mediation, sensory processing, Social responsiveness
Received: 01 Sep 2025; Accepted: 19 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ji, Zhu, Yin, Zeng and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhi Huang
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