Parental beliefs about autism: implications for the treating physician.
Trust fades when doctors ignore parents' autism-cause ideas and hidden alternative treatments.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Harrington et al. (2006) asked parents of children with autism about their beliefs. They wanted to know if long waits for diagnosis and use of alternative therapies changed how much parents trusted doctors.
The team sent surveys to families. Parents answered questions about what they thought caused autism, how long diagnosis took, and which non-medical treatments they tried.
What they found
Parents who waited longer for an autism diagnosis felt less confident in their child's doctor. The same happened when families used many alternative therapies.
These parents were more likely to question medical advice and seek other opinions. Trust dropped most when doctors did not ask about the alternative treatments families were trying.
How this fits with other research
Saral et al. (2023) extends this picture by showing that today nearly 9 in 10 families use some form of complementary medicine. The number keeps growing, so the trust problem W et al. spotted is now bigger.
Eisenhower et al. (2006) helps explain why trust breaks down. That same-year survey found parents juggle an average of seven treatments at once. When doctors do not track this load, families feel ignored.
Senel (2010) conceptually replicates the US findings in Turkey. Parents there also believed alternative treatments helped more than harmed. This shows the trust issue is global, not just local.
Why it matters
You can protect caregiver trust by asking two simple questions at every visit: "What new treatments have you started?" and "What do you think caused your child's autism?" Write the answers down. This five-minute habit prevents the slow erosion of confidence that W et al. linked to long diagnostic delays and hidden CAM use. When families feel heard, they stay in care and follow your behavior plans.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study investigated parental beliefs about the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Sixty-two families of affected children completed a questionnaire asking when the parent first noticed developmental or behavioral problems, when they were told the diagnosis, how confident they were about the ability of their child's physician to recognize autism, whether they believed anything specific might have caused their child's autism, and what medications and complementary or alternative therapies they had tried. Two-thirds of parents suspected a specific cause, and three-quarters questioned their physician's ability. Parents who perceived a greater delay in diagnosis or who had tried more different therapies both tended to have less confidence in their physician (p = 0.20 and p = 0.07, respectively). Physicians should inquire about parental beliefs concerning etiology, learn what treatments the children are receiving, perform screening at the 18 month visit, and make referrals for further evaluation as soon as a child begins to exhibit signs suggestive of autism.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2006 · doi:10.1177/1362361306066609