Lisa D Wiggins1, Carolyn DiGuiseppi2, Laura Schieve1, Eric Moody2, Gnakub Soke1, Ellen Giarelli3, Susan Levy4. 1. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. 2. Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO. 3. College of Nursing and Health Professionals, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. 4. Center for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: (1) Report the occurrence of wandering, or leaving a supervised space, among children with confirmed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), other developmental delay (DD) with a previous but unconfirmed ASD diagnosis (DDprevASD), DD without a previous ASD diagnosis, and a population comparison group (POP) at an age when wandering is no longer expected and (2) explore whether ASD status is associated with wandering independent of behavioral, developmental, and maternal factors. METHOD: Parents and children aged 4 to 5 years enrolled in the Study to Explore Early Development Phase-1+2. All children were screened for ASD symptoms upon enrollment. Those with ASD symptoms and/or a previous ASD diagnosis received the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) to determine their developmental level and 2 ASD diagnostic tests to determine their ASD status. All other children were evaluated with the MSEL alone. Mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist/1½-5, which includes an item on whether the child wanders away (categorized as at least sometimes true vs not true) and items assessing behavior problems. RESULTS: Children with ASD (N = 1195) were significantly more likely to wander than children classified as DDprevASD (N = 230), DD (N = 1199), or POP (N = 1272) (60.4%, 41.3%, 22.3%, and 12.4%, respectively, p < 0.01). ASD status, very low developmental level, and affective, anxiety, attention, and oppositional problems were each independently associated with wandering behavior. CONCLUSION: Wandering is significantly more common among children with ASD and those with behavioral and developmental problems compared with other children. These findings can be used to increase the awareness of wandering among children with atypical development.
OBJECTIVES: (1) Report the occurrence of wandering, or leaving a supervised space, among children with confirmed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), other developmental delay (DD) with a previous but unconfirmed ASD diagnosis (DDprevASD), DD without a previous ASD diagnosis, and a population comparison group (POP) at an age when wandering is no longer expected and (2) explore whether ASD status is associated with wandering independent of behavioral, developmental, and maternal factors. METHOD: Parents and children aged 4 to 5 years enrolled in the Study to Explore Early Development Phase-1+2. All children were screened for ASD symptoms upon enrollment. Those with ASD symptoms and/or a previous ASD diagnosis received the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) to determine their developmental level and 2 ASD diagnostic tests to determine their ASD status. All other children were evaluated with the MSEL alone. Mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist/1½-5, which includes an item on whether the child wanders away (categorized as at least sometimes true vs not true) and items assessing behavior problems. RESULTS: Children with ASD (N = 1195) were significantly more likely to wander than children classified as DDprevASD (N = 230), DD (N = 1199), or POP (N = 1272) (60.4%, 41.3%, 22.3%, and 12.4%, respectively, p < 0.01). ASD status, very low developmental level, and affective, anxiety, attention, and oppositional problems were each independently associated with wandering behavior. CONCLUSION: Wandering is significantly more common among children with ASD and those with behavioral and developmental problems compared with other children. These findings can be used to increase the awareness of wandering among children with atypical development.
Authors: Catherine E Rice; Benjamin Zablotsky; Rosa M Avila; Lisa J Colpe; Laura A Schieve; Beverly Pringle; Stephen J Blumberg Journal: J Pediatr Date: 2016-05-02 Impact factor: 4.406
Authors: Diana E Schendel; Carolyn Diguiseppi; Lisa A Croen; M Daniele Fallin; Philip L Reed; Laura A Schieve; Lisa D Wiggins; Julie Daniels; Judith Grether; Susan E Levy; Lisa Miller; Craig Newschaffer; Jennifer Pinto-Martin; Cordelia Robinson; Gayle C Windham; Aimee Alexander; Arthur S Aylsworth; Pilar Bernal; Joseph D Bonner; Lisa Blaskey; Chyrise Bradley; Jack Collins; Casara J Ferretti; Homayoon Farzadegan; Ellen Giarelli; Marques Harvey; Susan Hepburn; Matthew Herr; Kristina Kaparich; Rebecca Landa; Li-Ching Lee; Brooke Levenseller; Stacey Meyerer; Mohammad H Rahbar; Andria Ratchford; Ann Reynolds; Steven Rosenberg; Julie Rusyniak; Stuart K Shapira; Karen Smith; Margaret Souders; Patrick Aaron Thompson; Lisa Young; Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2012-10
Authors: Russell Lang; Mandy Rispoli; Wendy Machalicek; Pamela J White; Soyeon Kang; Nigel Pierce; Austin Mulloy; Tina Fragale; Mark O'Reilly; Jeff Sigafoos; Giulio Lancioni Journal: Res Dev Disabil Date: 2008-12-31