Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr;42(4):575-84.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-011-1282-1.

Predictive and concurrent validity of parent concern about young children at risk for autism

Christine Reiner Hess  1 , Rebecca J Landa
Affiliations

Predictive and concurrent validity of parent concern about young children at risk for autism

Christine Reiner Hess et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Parents' concerns about their children's development were examined prospectively at 14, 24, and 36 months for 89 younger siblings of a child with autism. Parent reported concern was high at all ages (40-75%) and was higher at 24 and 36 months in children with ASD than non-ASD outcomes (p < .05). Communication concerns were reported most frequently. Parent concern compared to impairment classification based on concurrent standardized tests provided better specificity than sensitivity, and was better for communication than social functioning. Parent communication concern (but not social concern) at 24 months and 36 months predicted ASD versus non-ASD outcome; however, children's impairment on standardized tests yielded greater predictive value at all ages (p < .001). Close monitoring of this at risk group is warranted.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percentage of parents with concerns about children’s communication functioning and percent of children meeting criteria for impairment based on MSEL receptive and/or expressive language scale scores at 14, 24, and 36 months by ASD versus non-ASD outcome grouping
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percentage of parents with concerns about children’s communication functioning and percent of children meeting ASD or autism cutoff for ADOS communication domain at 14, 24, and 36 months by ASD versus non-ASD outcome grouping
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentage of parents with concerns about children’s social functioning and percent of children meeting ASD or autism cutoff for ADOS reciprocal social interaction domain at 14, 24, and 36 months by ASD versus non-ASD outcome grouping
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Academy of Pediatrics. Developmental surveillance and screening of infants and young children. Pediatrics. 2001;108(1):192–195. - PubMed
    1. Aylward G. Practioner’s guide to developmental and psychological testing. New York: Plenum Medical Book Company; 1994.
    1. Chawarska K, Paul R, Klin A, Hannigen S, Dichtel LE, Volkmar F. Parental recognition of developmental problems in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2007;37(1):62–72. - PubMed
    1. Dawson G, Rogers S, Munson J, Smith M, Winter J, Greenson J, Donaldson A, Varley J. Randomized, controlled trial of an intervention for toddlers with autism: The early start denver model. Pediatrics. 2010;125(1):e17–e23. Epub 2009 Nov 30. - PMC - PubMed
    1. De Giacomo A, Fombonne E. Parental recognition of developmental abnormalities in autism. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 1998;7:131–136. - PubMed

Publication types