1 Georgia State University, USA.
2 Yale University, USA.
Autism. 2019 Jan;23(1):100-111. doi: 10.1177/1362361317722030. Epub 2017 Nov 3.
Racial differences in parent report of concerns about their child's development to healthcare providers may contribute to delayed autism spectrum disorder diagnoses in Black children. We tested the hypotheses that compared to White parents, Black parents of children with autism spectrum disorder would report fewer concerns about autism symptoms and would be more likely to report concerns about disruptive behaviors. A sample of 18- to 40-month-old toddlers ( N = 174) with autism spectrum disorder and their parent participated. After screening positive for autism spectrum disorder risk, but prior to a diagnostic evaluation, parents completed free-response questions soliciting concerns about their child's development. Parent responses were coded for the presence or the absence of 10 possible concerns, which were grouped into autism concerns (e.g. social and restricted and repetitive behavior concerns) or non-autism concerns (e.g. general developmental and disruptive behavior concerns). Compared to White parents, Black parents reported significantly fewer autism concerns and fewer social and restricted and repetitive behavior concerns. However, Black parents did not report significantly fewer non-autism concerns. Race did not influence parent report of disruptive behavior concerns. Lower reporting of autism concerns by Black parents may impact providers' abilities to identify children who need further screening or evaluation.
父母向医疗保健提供者报告其子女发育问题的种族差异可能导致黑人儿童自闭症谱系障碍诊断延迟。我们检验了以下假设：与白人父母相比，自闭症谱系障碍儿童的黑人父母报告的自闭症症状相关问题较少，而更有可能报告与破坏性行为相关的问题。研究纳入了 18 至 40 个月大的自闭症谱系障碍幼儿（N=174）及其家长。在筛查出自闭症谱系障碍风险后，但在进行诊断评估之前，家长完成了自由回答问题，询问他们对孩子发育的担忧。根据是否存在 10 种可能的担忧，对家长的回答进行了编码，这些担忧分为自闭症相关问题（例如社会交往和受限及重复行为相关问题）或非自闭症相关问题（例如一般发育和破坏性行为相关问题）。与白人父母相比，黑人父母报告的自闭症相关问题以及社会交往和受限及重复行为相关问题明显较少。然而，黑人父母报告的非自闭症相关问题并没有明显较少。种族并没有影响家长对破坏性行为相关问题的报告。黑人父母对自闭症相关问题的报告较少，可能会影响医生识别需要进一步筛查或评估的儿童的能力。
