Sociodemographic Differences Impact the Perceived Importance of Social Communication and Interaction Behaviors

The evaluation of social communication and interaction (SC/I) behaviors is foundational to the autism identification process. However, this type of evaluation is made difficult by the fact that SC/I is a construct in which perceptions and expectations are largely influenced by norms and attitudes of different sociodemographic groups. While there are many factors that influence differences in SC/I behaviors across sociodemographic groups, one factor that may be especially important is the perceived value of these behaviors. The purpose of this study is to investigate which sociodemographic factors influence the perceived importance of SC/I behaviors among caregivers of children and adolescents. Caregivers (n = 398) living in the United States completed the Social Communication and Interaction Perceptions Scale (SCIPS). Linear mixed-effect models were used to investigate the relationship between the perceived importance of SC/I behaviors and seven sociodemographic factors as well as determine if this relationship was moderated by SC/I behavior type (i.e., foundational vs. advanced behaviors). Several different sociodemographic factors (i.e., caregiver race/ethnicity, caregiver gender, household income, child disability status, child age, child gender) were associated with caregiver ratings of the perceived importance of SC/I behaviors. This relation was, in some instances (i.e., caregiver race/ethnicity, caregiver gender, child disability status), moderated by whether the SC/I behaviors were foundational or advanced. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the values of caregivers regarding perceived SC/I importance during the autism identification process.