Brief Report: Autism Knowledge and Stigma in University and Community Samples

Stronach, Sheri T.; Wiegand, Sarah; Mentz, Emily

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3825-1

Cited by 31 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Mean scores on the four ASK-Q subscales are presented in Table 2, along with previous data from a U.S. community sample ( N = 478; Stronach et al, 2019) and a Mongolian parent sample ( N = 40; Harrison et al, 2019). Judging by the numbers, the current Chinese sample, but not the United States, sample scored consistently lower compared with the published U.S. data on all four subscales.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The U.S. sample was obtained online via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) following procedures described in Harrison, Bradshaw, et al (2017) and in-person as described in Stronach et al (2019) for community participants. Participants were restricted to English-speaking U.S. citizens above the age of 18 years.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A total of 1127 participants (817 in-person and 310 online) completed the survey. A subset of the U.S. data ( n = 325 participants) is taken from Stronach et al (2019). Demographic characteristics of the samples are shown in Table 1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A comparison with the United States will not only potentially inform the low prevalence estimates, critical shortage of education and service provision, and inadequate advocacy efforts in China, but might also provide novel evidence for cultural differences in ASD knowledge constructs that could generalize to other parts of the developing world. Although the ASK-Q was developed with cross-cultural sensitivity in mind, most of the published validation research relied on samples from the United States (Harrison, Bradshaw et al, 2017; Harrison et al, 2019; Stronach et al, 2019). With the exception of a very small dataset from Mongolia (Harrison et al, 2019), research has yet to verify whether similar psychometric performance of ASK-Q would hold in a distinct cultural and linguistic setting.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q) is an instrument developed to evaluate ASD knowledge in cross-cultural contexts (Harrison, Bradshaw, et al, 2017). Whereas the original measure development study reported on average across subscales 62% of participants fell in the adequate ASD knowledge range (Harrison, Bradshaw et al, 2017), a recent study reported that over 90% of the participants in a U.S. sample demonstrated adequate ASD knowledge (Stronach et al, 2019). The four subscales of ASK-Q: diagnosis/symptoms, etiology, treatment, and stigma endorsement can provide in-depth information about the knowledge construct of the tested population for increasing education opportunities.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Public knowledge and stigma of autism spectrum disorder: Comparing China with the United States

Stronach

Harrison

2020

Autism

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Autism spectrum disorder in China differs considerably from autism spectrum disorder in the West in terms of prevalence estimates, education opportunities, and life outcomes of autistic people. The lack of autism spectrum disorder awareness could be a key factor underlying the disparities. To date, there has been no evaluation of autism spectrum disorder knowledge among the general public of China. Using the Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire developed for use in diverse cultural contexts, this study uncovered profoundly different public views about autism spectrum disorder in China compared with the United States. Determined by cognitive diagnosis modeling, 86%–91% of the surveyed U.S. citizens ( N = 1127) achieved adequate autism spectrum disorder knowledge in diagnosis/symptoms, etiology, and treatment, whereas for the Chinese citizens ( N = 1254) the percentages were only 57%–65%. Moreover, 14% of the participants from the United States were classified to endorse autism spectrum disorder stigma; in comparison, 38% of the Chinese participants endorsed autism spectrum disorder stigma. The Chinese citizens displayed knowledge deficits primarily in the areas of autism spectrum disorder core symptoms, comorbid intellectual impairment, and prognosis. Sociodemographic factors associated with the Chinese citizen’s misconceptions included gender, ethnicity, social economic factors, among others. These results have important implications for increasing public awareness and promoting community participation for autistic individuals in China. Lay abstract ASD in China differs considerably from ASD in the West in terms of prevalence estimates, education opportunities and life outcomes of autistic people. The lack of ASD awareness could be a key factor underlying these disparities. We asked 1127 U.S. citizens and 1254 Chinese citizens about their autism knowledge using the Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q).The results indicated profoundly different public views about ASD in China compared to the U.S. Specifically, only 57%-65% of the Chinese citizens demonstrated adequate ASD knowledge compared to 86%-91% in the U.S. citizens. Fourteen percent of the U.S. citizens were shown to hold stigma beliefs towards ASD; in comparison, 38% of the Chinese citizens indicated ASD stigma. The Chinese citizens displayed misconceptions about ASD related to symptoms, causes, and possible long-term outcomes. In China but not in the U.S., male citizens and citizens with lower social economic status were more likely to have misconceptions about ASD than others were. The findings of this research can help increase public awareness about ASD and create a more inclusive environment for autistic people in China.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public knowledge and stigma of autism spectrum disorder: Comparing China with the United States

Stronach

Harrison

2020

Autism

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Use of allied‐health services and medication among adults with ASD in Latin America

et al. 2021

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ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects people across the entire lifespan, yet most of the research identifying the health and medical needs for autistic individuals have been among minors. As individuals with ASD transition to emerging adulthood, the services, already limited, become less available. This study aimed to identify the use of services for Latin American adults on the spectrum. We surveyed 295 caregivers of adults with ASD from six Latin American countries. Comparing the results for all the possible services observed in this study, the adults in our sample were primarily underserved: 84.4%–95.9% were receiving zero hours per week, 3.7%–12.9% 1%–10 h, 0%–1.7% 11–20, and only 0%–1% above 20 h of services. Almost half of the sample used medication, and neurologists were the most consulted health providers. Next to inexistent health care usage in Latin American adults with ASD highlights socioeconomic and health disparities in service provision for ASD in the region. The lack of services places adults with ASD in Latin America at a higher risk of worse symptom severity than autistic adults from regions with broader access to services. Lay Summary This study aimed to identify the quantity of services received by adults with autism in Latin America. Most of our sample was not receiving health services yet almost half had access to medication. This could mean that adults with autism in Latin America are at higher risk for poorer health.

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Conceptualization of the latent structure of autism: further evidence and discussion of dimensional and hybrid models

Wittkopf

Langmann

Roessner

et al. 2022

Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) might be conceptualized as an essentially dimensional, categorical, or hybrid model. Yet, current empirical studies are inconclusive and the latent structure of ASD has explicitly been examined only in a few studies. The aim of our study was to identify and discuss the latent model structure of behavioral symptoms related to ASD and to address the question of whether categories and/or dimensions best represent ASD symptoms. We included data of 2920 participants (1–72 years of age), evaluated with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (Modules 1–4). We applied latent class analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and factor mixture modeling and evaluated the model fit by a combination of criteria. Based on the model selection criteria, the model fits, the interpretability as well as the clinical utility we conclude that the hybrid model serves best for conceptualization and assessment of ASD symptoms. It is both grounded in empirical evidence and in clinical usefulness, is in line with the current classification system (DSM-5) and has the potential of being more specific than the dimensional approach (decreasing false positive diagnoses).

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Brief Report: Autism Knowledge and Stigma in University and Community Samples

Cited by 31 publications

References 10 publications

Public knowledge and stigma of autism spectrum disorder: Comparing China with the United States

Public knowledge and stigma of autism spectrum disorder: Comparing China with the United States

Use of allied‐health services and medication among adults with ASD in Latin America

Conceptualization of the latent structure of autism: further evidence and discussion of dimensional and hybrid models

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