Chaidez Virginia, Fernandez Y Garcia Erik, Wang Lulu W, Angkustsiri Kathleen, Krakowiak Paula, Hertz-Picciotto Irva, Hansen Robin L
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nutrition and Health Sciences, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Davis, California.
Child Care Health Dev. 2018 Nov;44(6):916-925. doi: 10.1111/cch.12612. Epub 2018 Aug 22.
This study aimed to describe parental perceptions of the causes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in an ethnically diverse sample and explore whether these perceptions relate to treatment choices.
The sample consisted of White (n = 224), Hispanic (n = 85), and Asian (n = 21) mothers of a child with ASD. A mixed methods approach was used in this secondary analysis focusing on parental perceptions about the causes of ASD and the relationship of these to utilization of services and treatment.
Environmental and genetic factors were most often believed to be the cause or one of the causes of ASD by mothers across all ethnic groups studied. Asian mothers were more likely to cite multiple causes. Environmental causes were associated with receiving 20 or more hours of autism-related services per week, whereas belief in environmental exposures and vaccines and medications as causes were associated with complementary-alternative medicine (CAM) use.
Our findings suggest that ethnic differences in autism causal beliefs and treatment choices may exist. Future research should be conducted to specifically confirm the findings, to understand parental motivation behind their service and treatment choices, and to gain more insight into the types, usage, and sources of CAM treatments. Clinicians can use parental autism causal beliefs in discussions about treatment recommendations.
本研究旨在描述不同种族样本中父母对自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）病因的看法，并探讨这些看法是否与治疗选择相关。
样本包括患有ASD儿童的白人母亲（n = 224）、西班牙裔母亲（n = 85）和亚裔母亲（n = 21）。在本次二次分析中采用了混合方法，重点关注父母对ASD病因的看法以及这些看法与服务利用和治疗的关系。
在所研究的所有种族群体中，母亲们最常认为环境和遗传因素是ASD的病因或病因之一。亚裔母亲更有可能提及多种病因。环境因素与每周接受20小时或更多自闭症相关服务相关，而认为环境暴露、疫苗和药物是病因则与使用补充替代医学（CAM）相关。
我们的研究结果表明，自闭症病因信念和治疗选择可能存在种族差异。未来应进行研究以具体证实这些发现，了解父母在服务和治疗选择背后的动机，并更深入地了解CAM治疗的类型、使用情况和来源。临床医生在讨论治疗建议时可以利用父母对自闭症病因的信念。
