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Stability of Autism Symptoms in Young Children

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Abstract

The study of early diagnosis and intervention has been a central theme in recent autism research. In support of the validity of early autism diagnoses, researchers have found discriminating variables that are identifiable within the first three years of life. In addition, autism diagnoses made within this time period are typically stable over time. Separate symptoms, however, seem to exhibit differential patterns across development. The current study examined the stability of autism screening outcomes and symptomology in 637 toddlers between the age of 17 and 36 months. Confirmatory of previous findings, results of the current study suggest that overall screening outcomes and symptom severity across three domains (i.e., socialization/nonverbal communication, restricted repetitive behaviors and interests, and communication) are stable across time. Further, the effects of age and time between testing were found to vary between groups. Implications of these results are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Xinrui Jiang, Johnny L. Matson, Abigail Issarraras & Claire O. Burns

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  1. Xinrui Jiang
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  2. Johnny L. Matson
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  3. Abigail Issarraras
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  4. Claire O. Burns
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Correspondence to Xinrui Jiang.

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Funding

This study did not receive external funding.

Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the Louisiana State University Institutional Review Board and the State of Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals Institutional Review Board. All procedures performed in the current study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

The use of data from EarlySteps was approved by OCDD of the State of Louisiana. Personal identifiers of each participant, including name and date of birth, were removed by the Louisiana Department of Health before receipt of the database.

Conflict of Interest

Deann Matson, Dr. Johnny Matson’s wife, is the sole owner of the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtism Traits (BISCUIT) and sells the scale.

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Jiang, X., Matson, J.L., Issarraras, A. et al. Stability of Autism Symptoms in Young Children. J Dev Phys Disabil 29, 955–967 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-017-9567-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-017-9567-8

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