Parental Concerns of Underserved Young Children at Risk for Autism

Area of Science:

• Developmental Pediatrics
• Child Psychology
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Early identification of children at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial for positive outcomes.
• Existing disparities in ASD recognition exist based on race, ethnicity, income, and English proficiency.
• Limited understanding of how parents from underserved groups articulate developmental concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how parents from underserved backgrounds describe developmental and behavioral concerns in at-risk children.
• To identify factors influencing parental expression of developmental concerns.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of developmental concerns from 204 parents of children at-risk for ASD from underserved communities.
• Comparison of concern types and frequency based on parent primary language, ethnicity, and ASD diagnosis.

Main Results:

• Parental concerns differed significantly based on primary language.
• Parents whose primary language was Spanish reported fewer developmental and ASD-specific concerns.
• No significant differences in concerns were found based on ASD presence or ethnicity.

Conclusions:

• Parental primary language influences the expression of developmental concerns.
• Clinicians must consider language barriers when eliciting concerns from underserved families.
• Addressing language-related disparities is vital for equitable early ASD identification.