title: Behaviourally designed treatments that increase willingness to treatment from families with children suffering from autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autism spectrum disorder is a lifelong disability that is not well known by the general population and tends to be associated with social stigma; also, because it involves children, it may get highly emotionally charged. These stylised facts engender a number of possible heuristics and biases at the moment of deciding on following a treatment or looking for a diagnosis, which should be considered in the presentation of information. Using insights from Behavioural Economics, three treatments are designed to present the information regarding possible therapies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between-subjects design with one level of variation. Interviews were performed with a convenience sample of 154 households from the metropolitan area of Bogotá (Colombia). The treatments include: use of default option, use of professional interviewer to illustrate the therapy and emotionally charged presentation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Kruskal-Wallis test of the intention to be treated rejects the null hypothesis (χ(2)=22.14, p=0.00). The cognitive processing of the information is not a determinant, supporting the claim that genuine framing effects shape the choice. The strongest effect of the treatment with a professional suggests a key role for asymmetry of the information, which is confirmed indirectly through the postexperiment questionnaire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bad healthcare decisions are not necessarily driven by lack of information. Asymmetric information (eg, delegating the decision to a professional) improves choices, especially when social stigma is involved. Cognitive processing of information seems to be less relevant than the framing effect.
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Economía, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bogliacino
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Psicología, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Israel Andrés
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Parra Forero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D003105:Colombia; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D033282:Parental Consent / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D057545:Social Stigma; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
keywords: ACCESS TO HLTH CARE; COGNITION; Decision Analysis