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Screening of ASD in At-Risk Young Children and Initiation of the Diagnostic Process

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Abstract

Little research has explored factors effecting the time it takes caregivers to initiate the diagnostic process (e.g., first phone call to a provider) after their infant or toddler received a positive screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The current study investigated the time it takes caregivers of an at-risk sample of toddlers who are enrolled in a statewide early intervention program and screen positive for ASD to initiate the evaluation process. A hierarchical multiple regression was used to identify factors that may affect this timeline. ASD symptom severity and child age were found to predict the length of time between receiving the positive screen and the initiation of the evaluation process; no additional factors (i.e., gender, only child status, younger sibling status, race/ethnicity) were significant. Results indicate that severity of symptoms and child age may be the driving factors for caregivers to initiate the formal evaluation process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Paige A. Weir, Celeste Tevis & Johnny L. Matson

  2. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, 236 Audubon Hall, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Paige A. Weir

Authors
  1. Paige A. Weir
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  2. Celeste Tevis
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  3. Johnny L. Matson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paige A. Weir.

Ethics declarations

Informed Consent

The use of data in this study was approved by the Louisiana State University Institutional Review Board (IRB). Informed written consent was obtained from the caregivers of the infants aand toddlers participating in this study. Personal identifiers (e.g., name, date of birth) were removed from the database prior to the completed analyses.

Conflicts of Interest

Mrs. Deann Matson, Dr. Johnny L. Matson’s spouse, is the sole owner of the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits (BISCUIT) and sells the scale. Paige Weir and Celeste Tevis declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Any experimental research that is reported in the manuscript should have been performed with the approval of an appropriate ethics committee. Research carried out on humans must be in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration, and any experimental research on animals should follow internationally recognized guidelines. Prior to assessment administration, the Louisiana State University Institutional Review Baord approved the use of assessment records for research purposes in complianace with the 1964 Helsinki declaration. The parents of each child receiving an evaluation provided informed consent to participate in research.

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Weir, P.A., Tevis, C. & Matson, J.L. Screening of ASD in At-Risk Young Children and Initiation of the Diagnostic Process. J Dev Phys Disabil 35, 317–325 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-022-09850-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-022-09850-z

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