Benjamin Zablotsky1, Matthew Bramlett2, Stephen J Blumberg2. 1. National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, USA. Electronic address: bzablotsky@cdc.gov. 2. National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is currently little consensus on how the severity of a child's autism spectrum disorder (ASD) should be measured, and yet despite the lack of a standardized definition, parents were readily able to answer a question asking them to describe the severity of his/her child's ASD in a national survey. OBJECTIVE: The current study examined factors associated with a parent's judgment of ASD severity, by identifying child and household characteristics that were associated with a parent's severity rating of his/her child's ASD, including child ASD symptomatology, child impact, and family impact. METHODS: Data came from the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services ("Pathways"). A total of 967 parents in households with a child diagnosed with ASD between the ages of 6-17 were eligible for the current study. A measurement model was used to create latent factors of child symptoms, child impact, and family impact; multivariate logistic regression models examined the relationship between these latent factors and the parent's severity rating of their child's ASD. RESULTS: Children with higher family impact factor scores were more likely to have parents who rated their child's ASD as the most severe. Surprisingly, symptomatology and impact on the child were less predictive of severe ratings. CONCLUSIONS: A parent's conceptualization of their child's ASD severity may vary more as a function of the impact of the child's condition on the family and less as a function of the symptoms exhibited by the child or the impact directly felt by the child. Published by Elsevier Inc.
BACKGROUND: There is currently little consensus on how the severity of a child's autism spectrum disorder (ASD) should be measured, and yet despite the lack of a standardized definition, parents were readily able to answer a question asking them to describe the severity of his/her child's ASD in a national survey. OBJECTIVE: The current study examined factors associated with a parent's judgment of ASD severity, by identifying child and household characteristics that were associated with a parent's severity rating of his/her child's ASD, including childASD symptomatology, child impact, and family impact. METHODS: Data came from the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services ("Pathways"). A total of 967 parents in households with a child diagnosed with ASD between the ages of 6-17 were eligible for the current study. A measurement model was used to create latent factors of child symptoms, child impact, and family impact; multivariate logistic regression models examined the relationship between these latent factors and the parent's severity rating of their child's ASD. RESULTS:Children with higher family impact factor scores were more likely to have parents who rated their child's ASD as the most severe. Surprisingly, symptomatology and impact on the child were less predictive of severe ratings. CONCLUSIONS: A parent's conceptualization of their child's ASD severity may vary more as a function of the impact of the child's condition on the family and less as a function of the symptoms exhibited by the child or the impact directly felt by the child. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Entities:
Keywords:
Autism spectrum disorders; Developmental disability; National survey; Parents; Severity
Authors: Laura A Schieve; Sheree L Boulet; Michael D Kogan; Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp; Coleen A Boyle; Susanna N Visser; Stephen J Blumberg; Catherine Rice Journal: Disabil Health J Date: 2010-11-10 Impact factor: 2.554
Authors: Ovsanna T Leyfer; Susan E Folstein; Susan Bacalman; Naomi O Davis; Elena Dinh; Jubel Morgan; Helen Tager-Flusberg; Janet E Lainhart Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2006-10
Authors: Dennis Bastiaansen; Hans M Koot; Robert F Ferdinand; Frank C Verhulst Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2004-02 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: John N Constantino; Patricia D Lavesser; Yi Zhang; Anna M Abbacchi; Teddi Gray; Richard D Todd Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2007-12 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Sara Beth Wolicki; Rebecca H Bitsko; Melissa L Danielson; Joseph R Holbrook; Benjamin Zablotsky; John T Walkup; Douglas W Woods; Jonathan W Mink Journal: J Dev Behav Pediatr Date: 2019 Jul/Aug Impact factor: 2.225
Authors: Katharine E Zuckerman; Nora D B Friedman; Alison E Chavez; Amy M Shui; Karen A Kuhlthau Journal: J Dev Behav Pediatr Date: 2017-05 Impact factor: 2.225
Authors: Nuri M Reyes; Olivia J Lindly; Alison E Chavez; Ann Folan; Kristy Macias; Kathryn A Smith; Ann Reynolds; Katherine Zuckerman Journal: Res Autism Spectr Disord Date: 2018-04-14
Authors: Sara Beth Wolicki; Rebecca H Bitsko; Joseph R Holbrook; Melissa L Danielson; Benjamin Zablotsky; Lawrence Scahill; John T Walkup; Douglas W Woods; Jonathan W Mink Journal: Psychiatry Res Date: 2020-08-18 Impact factor: 3.222