Beliefs in vaccine as causes of autism among SPARK cohort caregivers

Fear of autism has led to a decline in childhood-immunization uptake and to a resurgence of preventable infectious diseases. Identifying characteristics of parents who believe in a causal role of vaccines for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their child may help targeting educational activities and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Vaccine Vol. 38; no. 7; pp. 1794 - 1803
Main Authors:	Fombonne, Eric, Abbeduto, Leonard, Albright, Charles, Amaral, David G., Amatya, Alpha, Bahl, Ethan, Baraghoshi, Gabrielle, Bernier, Raphael A., Brewster, Stephanie J., Brown, Melissa, Brueggeman, Leo, Butler, Martin E., Camba, Alexies, Carpenter, Laura, Carriero, Nicholas, Cartner, Lindsey A., Chatha, Ahmad S., Chintalapalli, Sharmista, Cohen, Cheryl, Columbi, Costanza, Cubells, Joseph F., Hannah Currin, Mary, David, Giancarla, Dennis, Megan Y., Ding, Yan, Eichler, Evan E., Fatemi, Ali, Fischer, Gregory, Fombonne, Eric J., Garrett, Michael, Gazestani, Vahid, Geisheker, Madeleine R., Gibbs, Richard A., Gruber, Angela J., Gulsrud, Amanda C., Haley, Monica, Han, Bing, Hanna, Nathan, Harris, Nina, Heerwagen, Kathryn, Hepburn, Susan L., Higgins, Lorrin, Hojlo, Margaret, Horner, Susannah, Hunter, Samantha, Istephanous, Dalia, Jaramillo, Nancy, Jelinek, Anna, Jurayj, Jane, Kanne, Stephen, Kaplan, Hannah E., Lash, Alex E., Lawson, Noah, Layman, Kevin, Lechniak, Holly, Lee, Sandra, Lee, Soo J., Manning, Patricia, Marzano, Gabriela, Mastel, Sarah, Matthews, Emily T., McCracken, James T., Miceli, Alexandra, Michaelson, Jacob J., Momin, Zeineen, O'Neil, Molly, O'Roak, Brian J., Pacheco, Lillian D., Palmer, Samiza, Pandey, Juhi, Marie Paolicelli, Anna, Piven, Joseph, Qiu, Shanping, Rajbhandari, Kshitij, Rodriguez, Nicki, Russo-Ponsaran, Nicole, Ruzzo, Elizabeth, Salomatov, Andrei, Sandhu, Sophia, Sarver, Dustin E., Schultz, Robert T., Siegel, Matthew, Simon, Laura, Smith, Christopher J., Stephens, Alexandra N., Sullivan, Catherine, Takahashi, Nicole, Taylor, Cora, Thompson, Samantha, Turner, Tychele N., Van Metre, Bonnie, Veenstra-Vanderweele, Jeremy, Walston, Corrie H., Wang, Jiayao, Warren, Zachary, Casey White-Lehman, L., Wodka, Ericka L., Yinger, Meredith, Zang, Lan, Zhao, Haoquan
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 11-02-2020 Elsevier Limited
Subjects:	Adolescent Age Autism Autism spectrum disorder Autism Spectrum Disorder - etiology Autistic Disorder - etiology Birth defects Caregivers Causation Child Child, Preschool Children Children & youth Cognitive ability Demographics Demography Disorder Education Ethnic Groups Ethnicity Etiology Families & family life Female Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Humans Immunization Immunizations Infectious diseases Intellectual disability Language Language delay Male Measles Mental disorders Minority & ethnic groups Minority Groups Parents Parents & parenting Pregnancy complications Psychiatric disorder Questionnaires Registration Regression Schedules Seizure Seizures Sex Signs and symptoms Skills Social factors Social networks Vaccination - psychology Vaccines Vaccines - adverse effects United States > US Sex Regression Social factors Vaccines Disorder Autism spectrum disorder Psychiatric disorder Autism Ethnicity Intellectual disability Language Language delay Immunizations Seizure
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Summary:	Fear of autism has led to a decline in childhood-immunization uptake and to a resurgence of preventable infectious diseases. Identifying characteristics of parents who believe in a causal role of vaccines for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their child may help targeting educational activities and improve adherence to the immunization schedule. To compare caregivers of children with ASD who agree or disagree that vaccines play an etiological role in autism for 1) socio-demographics characteristics and 2) developmental and clinical profiles of their children. Data from 16,525 participants with ASD under age 18 were obtained from SPARK, a national research cohort started in 2016. Caregivers completed questionnaires at registration that included questions on beliefs about the etiologic role of childhood immunizations and other factors in ASD. Data were available about family socio-demographic characteristics, first symptoms of autism, developmental regression, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, seizures, and current levels of functioning. Participants with ASD were 80.4% male with a mean age of 8.1 years (SD = 4.1). Overall, 16.5% of caregivers endorsed immunizations as perceived causes of autism. Compared to caregivers who disagreed with vaccines as a cause for ASD, those who believed in vaccine causation came disproportionately from ethnic minority, less educated, and less wealthy backgrounds. More often their children had experienced developmental regression involving language and other skills, were diagnosed earlier, had lost skills during the second year of life, and had worse language, adaptive, and cognitive outcomes. One in six caregivers who participate in a national research cohort believe that child immunizations could be a cause of autism in their child. Parent social background (non-White, less educated) and child developmental features (regression in second year, poorer language skills, and worse adaptive outcomes) index caregivers who are more likely to harbor these beliefs and could benefit from targeted educational activities.
ISSN:	0264-410X 1873-2518
DOI:	10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.12.026