ERIC Number: EJ1113225
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Oct
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-3613
EISSN: N/A
Stability and Change in Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis from Age 3 to Middle Childhood in a High-Risk Sibling Cohort
Brian, Jessica; Bryson, Susan E.; Smith, Isabel M.; Roberts, Wendy; Roncadin, Caroline; Szatmari, Peter; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie
Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, v20 n7 p888-892 Oct 2016
Considerable evidence on autism spectrum disorder emergence comes from longitudinal high-risk samples (i.e. younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder). Diagnostic stability to age 3 is very good when diagnosed as early as 18-24 months, but sensitivity is weaker, and relatively little is known beyond toddlerhood. We examined stability and change in blinded, clinical best-estimate diagnosis from age 3 to middle childhood (mean age = 9.5 years) in 67 high-risk siblings enrolled in infancy. Good agreement emerged for clinical best-estimate diagnoses (89.6% overall; kappa = 0.76, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval = 0.59-0.93). At age 3, 18 cases (26.9%) were classified with "autism spectrum disorder": 17 retained their autism spectrum disorder diagnosis (94.4%; 13 boys, 4 girls) and 1 no longer met autism spectrum disorder criteria at follow-up. Among "non-autism spectrum disorder" cases at age 3, 43/49 remained non--autism spectrum disorder at follow-up (87.8%; 22 boys, 21 girls) and 6/49 met lower autism symptomatology criteria ("Later-Diagnosed"; 3 boys, 3 girls). Later-diagnosed cases had significantly lower autism spectrum disorder symptomatology and higher receptive language at age 3 and trends toward lower autism symptoms and higher cognitive abilities at follow-up. Emerging developmental concerns were noted in all later-diagnosed cases, by age 3 or 5. High-risk children need to be followed up into middle childhood, particularly when showing differences in autism-related domains.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Clinical Diagnosis, Toddlers, Children, Classification, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Evaluation Criteria, Siblings, At Risk Persons, Receptive Language, Child Development, Change, Diagnostic Tests, Observation, Multivariate Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A