%0 Journal Article
%T Structured Variation in Parental Beliefs about Autism
%A Jane D. McLeod
%A Lydia DiSabatino
%J Journal of Health and Social Behavior
%@ 2150-6000
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0022146518820581
%X We used data from the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services (N = 1,420) to evaluate a conceptual model linking social background (race-ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES]) to parental distress through childrenĄ¯s clinical profiles and parental beliefs about the nature and causes of their childĄ¯s autism. ChildrenĄ¯s clinical profiles varied by social background; white children and children of more highly educated and affluent parents were less likely to experience comorbid conditions and were more likely to be diagnosed with AspergerĄ¯s. Parental beliefs also varied such that parents of racial-ethnic minority children and parents of lower SES perceived their childĄ¯s condition as more uncertain and were less likely to attribute it to genetic causes. Parents of Hispanic children and with lower incomes were more likely to be upset by the childĄ¯s condition. Although parental beliefs had independent associations with distress, childrenĄ¯s clinical profiles contributed more to explaining variation in distress
%K autism
%K children
%K illness beliefs
%K parents
%K stress
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022146518820581