Early Diagnosis of Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Relationship With Self-efficacy Beliefs

Early Diagnosis of Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Relationship With Self-efficacy Beliefs | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Early Diagnosis of Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Relationship With Self-efficacy Beliefs H. F Cerqueira, S. M Santana, C. A Cerqueira This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4759501/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objective: To establish a correlation between perceived self-efficacy and early diagnosis of mild ASD, emphasizing the importance of early screening and diagnostic feedback in childhood for fostering individual development and societal adaptation. Method: The sample was recruited through extensive outreach among mental health professionals in the private mental health network in Recife, Northeast Brazil. Inclusion criteria required participants to have suspected or diagnosed mild Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) above 80. Exclusion criteria included failure to confirm the diagnosis using the ADOS-2 test (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition). Data was collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire. Thirty-four participants of both genders, aged 11 to 55, were selected. Additionally, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) was administered. Two participants were excluded due to insufficient ADOS-2 diagnostic scores. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess the instrument's internal consistency. The correlation between variables (perceived self-efficacy and age at diagnosis) was analyzed using Spearman's and Kendall's correlation coefficients, along with respective statistical significance tests. Results: Kendall's and Spearman's correlation coefficients both indicated a significant positive correlation. Conclusion: As hypothesized, early diagnosis of ASD correlates positively with higher perceived general self-efficacy in adulthood. Autism Spectrum Disorder Self-efficacy Asperger's Syndrome. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Dataavailability.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4759501","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":343141988,"identity":"35851b51-63cc-44c0-8a40-7185ae59eaa5","order_by":0,"name":"H. F Cerqueira","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwbmBhQuAz+QOgBl49DCiKZFsoE0LSCRAwjtWIE5e2Pj44IaBnl+6cPbJD4U3JM3vpF78MCPmjsM5tIHsGqx7DnYbDzjGIPhzL60MskZBsWG227kJRzsOfaMwbIvAbvDbiS2SfOwMSQYnOExk+YxSGDcdiPH4DAD22EGgzM4/HL/Yftvnn8MCfYgLX8MEuw3zwBp+YdHyw3GNmbeNqAtPEAtDAYJiRskgFoY2/BoOZPYLM3bJ2E44wxbsWWPQULyjDNvDA729j3jsezBoeX44YOfeb7ZyPP3MG+88eNPgm1/e47xhx/f7siZ82DXAgUSYO3IIgfwa4DZiKKFGB2jYBSMglEwMgAAhxpegl9RCdEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Catholic University of Pernambuco","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"H.","middleName":"F","lastName":"Cerqueira","suffix":""},{"id":343141989,"identity":"523afe1f-10a1-4b18-a5ac-64f23f422f7c","order_by":1,"name":"S. M Santana","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Catholic University of Pernambuco","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"S.","middleName":"M","lastName":"Santana","suffix":""},{"id":343141993,"identity":"b33fc424-1c68-4630-be87-9a1bda5d999c","order_by":2,"name":"C. A Cerqueira","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Catholic University of Pernambuco","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"C.","middleName":"A","lastName":"Cerqueira","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-18 02:59:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4759501/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4759501/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":65204059,"identity":"8b6fd01b-e2c3-477a-a596-7bd1a6371213","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-09-24 17:46:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":219417,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4759501/v1_covered_73861d60-7eb5-47c5-95f5-f4af17da4d64.pdf"},{"id":63010482,"identity":"fa022b11-7866-4be8-ba53-a3b9f5dae33c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-22 05:39:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":27727,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Dataavailability.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4759501/v1/021bde1611ace8051f731cc0.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eEarly Diagnosis of Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Relationship With Self-efficacy Beliefs\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Autism Spectrum Disorder, Self-efficacy, Asperger's Syndrome.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4759501/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4759501/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjective: \u003c/strong\u003eTo establish a correlation between perceived self-efficacy and early diagnosis of mild ASD, emphasizing the importance of early screening and diagnostic feedback in childhood for fostering individual development and societal adaptation.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethod:\u003c/strong\u003e The sample was recruited through extensive outreach among mental health professionals in the private mental health network in Recife, Northeast Brazil. Inclusion criteria required participants to have suspected or diagnosed mild Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) above 80. Exclusion criteria included failure to confirm the diagnosis using the ADOS-2 test (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition). Data was collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire. Thirty-four participants of both genders, aged 11 to 55, were selected. Additionally, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) was administered. Two participants were excluded due to insufficient ADOS-2 diagnostic scores. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess the instrument's internal consistency. The correlation between variables (perceived self-efficacy and age at diagnosis) was analyzed using Spearman's and Kendall's correlation coefficients, along with respective statistical significance tests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e Kendall's and Spearman's correlation coefficients both indicated a significant positive correlation.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion:\u003c/strong\u003e As hypothesized, early diagnosis of ASD correlates positively with higher perceived general self-efficacy in adulthood.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Early Diagnosis of Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Relationship With Self-efficacy Beliefs","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-08-22 05:39:21","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4759501/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"bc35464c-4357-4950-9302-b02fbae3ab43","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 22nd, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-09-24T17:38:44+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-08-22 05:39:21","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4759501","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4759501","identity":"rs-4759501","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}