Investigating the effects of executive functions and social cognition on the relationship between autistic traits and mental health

The primary objective of the research reported in the current thesis is to design and examine the impact of an online training program that includes executive functions and social cognition targeting mental health symptoms. Additionally, it aims to investigate the mediating role of these factors in the relationship between autistic traits and mental health symptoms. In line with these objectives, four different studies were conducted. In the first study, a preliminary study was carried out to increase the reliability and validity of the online training program, and it was found that the online data collection method did not differ from the pencil-and-paper method. The second study examined the roles and relationships of executive functions and social cognition before designing the online program to understand their impact, particularly in the relationship between autistic traits and mental health symptoms. The results showed that personal distress, a part of affective empathy, plays a significant mediating role between attention switching, an autistic trait, and mental health symptoms. In the third study, the efficacy of the online training program in reducing mental health symptoms and improving executive functions and social cognition was evaluated through a pilot study. In the fourth study, the six-week online training program was tested by randomly assigning participants to either an experimental or control group. As a result, a significant decrease in mental health scores was observed in the experimental group. Additionally, significant improvements in affective empathy were achieved. These results suggest that the designed online intervention has the potential to reduce mental health symptoms and that the interaction between autistic traits and mental health should be considered. This study, despite some limitations, highlights the importance of designing effective online intervention programs and indicates that such programs could support mental health in both neurotypical and neurodiverse individuals.