Parent concerns: Differentiating developmental diagnoses in young children.

BACKGROUND

Screening guidelines recommend listening closely to parent concerns to aid in the identification of children with disabilities, since parent concerns may be predictive of an eventual child diagnosis.

METHODS

We performed a secondary analysis to examine the extent to which specific parent concerns differentiated six diagnostic categories (i.e., ASD, ASD + ADHD, Disruptive Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorder, developmental delays, and speech and language disorders) among 503 children 36-72 months of age. Data was drawn for a large diagnostic center in the Midwest.

RESULTS

We performed multinomial logistic regression with parent concerns differentiating six diagnostic categories. Results indicated that parent concerns preceding a diagnostic evaluation significantly differ among children with various diagnoses.

CONCLUSION

Parent concerns often aligned with core diagnostic criteria; regardless of a parent's knowledge of diagnostic criteria, their observations of child behavior are exceptionally insightful.