Development and Validation of a Survey of Knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorder

<p>As autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is more commonly diagnosed, having knowledge of the disorder becomes increasingly important for educators, parents, and the general public. Previous research regarding knowledge of ASD, focused mainly on knowledge possessed by those in the educational field, has found that individuals may perceive themselves as possessing average knowledge regarding ASD but have low actual knowledge (as defined by the researchers) regarding specific aspects of the disorder (Williams et al., 2011). Studies support the notion that there is a general lack of knowledge of different aspects of ASD among teachers; however, there has been little research regarding the level of awareness concerning ASD possessed by individuals outside of the educational sphere. The primary goal of this study was to create a standard measure to evaluate perceived versus actual knowledge of ASD. A sample of undergraduate students was administered A Survey of Knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASK-ASD), as well as a measure of knowledge of ADHD and a measure of knowledge of HIV/AIDS. The ASK-ASD demonstrated test-retest reliability, adequate internal consistency, and fair validity coefficients. An exploratory factor analysis of the ASK-ASD revealed a two-factor structure of knowledge of ASD. Additionally, exploratory analyses revealed several interesting correlations between ASD knowledge, demographic characteristics, and source of ASD knowledge.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Hansen, Laura Katherine

Contributors dc:contributor

• Tammy D. Barry
• Sara Jordan
• Randolph Arnau

• autism
• knowledge
• psychometrics
• measure development
• Clinical Psychology
• Special Education and Teaching

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/141

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1156