Parental Disclosure of ASD Diagnosis to the Child: A Systematic Review

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Smith, I. C., Edelstein, J., Cox, B. E., & White, S. W. (2018). Parental Disclosure of ASD Diagnosis to the Child: A Systematic Review. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 3(2), 98-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/23794925.2018.1435319

Publication date: 2 Feb 2018 Added to AutiHub: 8 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Isaac C. Smith
  2. Jeffrey Edelstein
  3. Bradley E. Cox *
  4. Susan W. White

Abstract

Despite increased rates of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in recent years, literature examining when and how parents of newly diagnosed youth disclose their diagnosis to them is scarce. Given the increasing number of newly diagnosed individuals, an exploration of the effects of disclosure on children with ASD is warranted. We conducted a systematic review to identify articles describing the process of disclosing a diagnosis of ASD from the perspective of children, parents, or both. The current review identified five articles reporting qualitative data on the disclosure process. Across studies, most parents were found to have disclosed ASD diagnoses to their children by adolescence, with children and parents exhibiting a variety of reactions. Concerns frequently identified by children and parents included time taken to process the emotional impact of diagnoses, delay between parents receiving diagnoses from clinicians and delivery of those diagnoses to children, concern that the ASD label would result in stigmatization, and the sense that an individual’s past behaviors or symptoms were well explained by the new diagnosis. Identification of these potential problems may serve as an initial step to inform the development of best-practice guidelines for parental disclosure of ASD diagnoses to youth and further research on this understudied part of the diagnostic process.

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Cited references
30
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
1 / 30 (3.3%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
1 / 90 (1.1%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 1 / 14 (7.1%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 1 / 88 (1.1%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
14 / 90 (15.6%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 13 / 88 (14.8%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
13 / 14 (92.9%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 13 / 90 (14.4%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 12 / 13 (92.3%).
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