Solia Dominique, Albarqouni Loai, Stehlik Paulina, Conroy Antonia, Thomas Rae
Bond University, Australia.
Griffith University, Australia.
Autism. 2025 Apr;29(4):838-849. doi: 10.1177/13623613241287573. Epub 2024 Oct 12.
Some parents experience concerns relating to their child's development and seek clinical assessments for their child's behaviour. We sought to understand the concerns that led parents to seek a general clinical assessment where some children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We conducted a systematic review to identify the types of parent concerns that drives parents to seek professional help for their child's development. Database searching identified 7587 records, where 10 studies (9 cohorts) met our inclusion criteria. Parent reported concerns were categorised using the coding schemes of included studies described as autism spectrum disorder-specific (i.e. communication, social or stereotyped behaviour concerns) or non-autism spectrum disorder-specific concerns (i.e. behaviour/temperament, developmental, medical, sensory or motor concerns). The most reported parental concerns prior to an assessment were speech and language, social and behavioural. Concerns were also reported relating to parent understandings of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and the positive and negative implications surrounding the autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Data were reported descriptively due to variations in study design and data analyses. Additional rigorous research on parent concerns prior to a diagnostic autism spectrum disorder assessment is required to capture what drives parents to seek professional help to support their child's development. CRD42022307436Lay abstractWhen a parent has concerns about their child's development, there is a lag between seeking and receiving health information. When waiting, parents may speculate about a possible diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, but it is unclear what types of concerns might drive this speculation. To determine the types of concerns parents may have before their child is assessed, we conducted a systematic review that explored parent concerns before an autism spectrum disorder assessment. Our aim was to determine the types of concerns that might drive parents to seek medical help for their child's development. Four online databases were searched and 10 articles reporting on 9 studies matched our inclusion criteria. In these cohorts, parents reported autism spectrum disorder-specific concerns (i.e. communication, social or stereotyped behaviour concerns) or non-autism spectrum disorder-specific concerns (i.e. behaviour/temperament, developmental, medical, sensory or motor concerns). Some parents also reported on their positive and negative thoughts of a potential autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and what the diagnosis would mean to them. The most reported parental concerns before an assessment were speech and language, social and behavioural. To understand the types of concerns parents have once they seek medical help, further research into how families speculated a possible autism spectrum disorder is recommended.
一些家长对自己孩子的发育情况感到担忧，并寻求针对孩子行为的临床评估。我们试图了解那些促使家长寻求全面临床评估的担忧，其中一些孩子被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍。我们进行了一项系统综述，以确定促使家长为孩子的发育寻求专业帮助的各类家长担忧。数据库检索共识别出7587条记录，其中10项研究（9个队列）符合我们的纳入标准。家长报告的担忧按照纳入研究的编码方案进行分类，分为自闭症谱系障碍特异性担忧（即沟通、社交或刻板行为方面的担忧）和非自闭症谱系障碍特异性担忧（即行为/气质、发育、医学、感官或运动方面的担忧）。评估前最常被报告的家长担忧是言语和语言、社交和行为方面的担忧。还报告了家长对自闭症谱系障碍诊断的理解以及自闭症谱系障碍诊断的积极和消极影响方面的担忧。由于研究设计和数据分析存在差异，数据以描述性方式呈现。在自闭症谱系障碍诊断评估之前，需要对家长担忧进行更多严格研究，以了解促使家长寻求专业帮助来支持孩子发育的因素。CRD42022307436非专业摘要当家长对孩子的发育感到担忧时，在寻求和获取健康信息之间存在延迟。等待期间，家长可能会猜测孩子是否可能被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍，但不清楚是哪些类型的担忧可能引发这种猜测。为了确定在孩子接受评估之前家长可能存在的担忧类型，我们进行了一项系统综述，探讨了自闭症谱系障碍评估之前家长的担忧。我们的目的是确定可能促使家长为孩子的发育寻求医疗帮助的担忧类型。检索了四个在线数据库，10篇报道9项研究的文章符合我们的纳入标准。在这些队列中，家长报告了自闭症谱系障碍特异性担忧（即沟通、社交或刻板行为方面的担忧）或非自闭症谱系障碍特异性担忧（即行为/气质、发育、医学、感官或运动方面的担忧）。一些家长还报告了他们对潜在自闭症谱系障碍诊断的积极和消极想法以及该诊断对他们意味着什么。评估前最常被报告的家长担忧是言语和语言、社交和行为方面的担忧。为了了解家长在寻求医疗帮助后存在的担忧类型，建议进一步研究家庭是如何猜测孩子可能患有自闭症谱系障碍的。
