Author, as appears in the article.: Morales-Hidalgo, Paula; Ferrando, Pere J; Canals, Josefa
Department: Psicologia
URV's Author/s: Canals Sans, Josefa / Ferrando Piera, Pere Joan / Morales Hidalgo, Paula
Keywords: Traits Symptom profiles Stereotypic movement disorder Spain Social communication disorder Severity of illness index Screening questionnaire School teachers Sample Prevalence Pragmatic communication disorder Male Latent class Humans General-population General child population Female Factor mixture analysis Cross-sectional studies Criteria Classification Children Child, preschool Child Autism spectrum disorders Autism spectrum disorder general child population factor mixture analysis autism spectrum disorders
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess whether the nature of the main autistic features (i.e., social communication problems and repetitive and restrictive patterns) are better conceptualized as dimensional or categorical in a school population. The study was based on the teacher ratings of two different age groups: 2,585 children between the ages of 10 and 12 (Primary Education; PE) and 2,502 children between the ages of 3 and 5 (Nursery Education; NE) from 60 mainstream schools. The analyses were based on Factor Mixture Analysis, a novel approach that combines dimensional and categorical features and prevents spurious latent classes from appearing. The results provided evidence of the dimensionality of autism spectrum symptoms in a school age population. The distribution of the symptoms was strongly and positively skewed but continuous; and the prevalence of high-risk symptoms for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and social-pragmatic communication disorder (SCD) was 7.55% of NE children and 8.74% in PE. A categorical separation between SCD and ASD was not supported by our sample. In view of the results, it is necessary to establish clear cut points for detecting and diagnosing autism and to develop specific and reliable tools capable of assessing symptom severity and functional consequences in children with ASD. Autism Res2018, 11: 979-988. (c) 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Lay SummaryThe results of the present study suggest that the distribution of autism spectrum symptoms are continuous and dimensional among school-aged children and thus support the need to establish clear cut-off points for detecting and diagnosing autism. In our sample, the prevalence of high-risk symptoms for autism spectrum disorders and social-pragmatic communication disorder was around 8%.
Thematic Areas: Psychology, developmental Psicología Neuroscience (miscellaneous) Neuroscience (all) Neurology (clinical) Interdisciplinar Genetics (clinical) General neuroscience Engenharias iv Ciencias sociales Ciências biológicas i Behavioral sciences
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
ISSN: 19393792
Author's mail: paula.morales@urv.cat josefa.canals@urv.cat perejoan.ferrando@urv.cat
Author identifier: 0000-0002-6209-9558 0000-0002-3133-5466
Record's date: 2024-10-12
Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Papper original source: Autism Research. 11 (7): 979-988
APA: Morales-Hidalgo, Paula; Ferrando, Pere J; Canals, Josefa (2018). Assessing the heterogeneity of autism spectrum symptoms in a school population. Autism Research, 11(7), 979-988. DOI: 10.1002/aur.1964
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2018
Publication Type: Journal Publications
Repositori URV