title: The Relationship Between Clinicians' Confidence and Accuracy, and the Influence of Child Characteristics, in the Screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: The study examined the confidence accuracy relationship, and the influence of child characteristics on clinician confidence, when predicting a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder during screening of 125 referred children aged under 3.5 years. The diagnostic process included observation, interview, language and developmental testing. Clinical judgement accuracy was compared against final diagnosis for high and low confidence levels (with confidence assessed on a 0-100 % scale). We identified a significant CA relationship with predictive accuracy highest at confidence levels of 90-100 %. Parent report of unusual behaviors was the only significant independent predictor of confidence. Clinicians' confidence may be important when evaluating decisions to refer, or not to refer, children for further diagnostic assessment.
authors.affiliation: Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia. d.hedley@latrobe.edu.au.|Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA. d.hedley@latrobe.edu.au.|Child Development Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA. d.hedley@latrobe.edu.au.
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hedley
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, 5042, Australia.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nevill
authors.affiliation: Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia.|Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Long Pocket, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uljarević
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.|Child Development Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Butter
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mulick
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012017:Referral and Consultation
keywords: Accuracy; Assessment; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Clinical judgement; Confidence; Diagnosis; Screening