TABLE 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of mothers and their adolescent children in the autism spectrum disorder and the general population control groups — Study to Explore Early Development, four U.S. sites, 2018–2020*.
| Adolescent/Maternal characteristic | Autism, % (n = 146) | Control, % (n = 249) | Autism versus control, PR† (95% CI)§ |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Maternal age, yrs, mean (SD)
|
45.8 (6.7) |
46.4 (4.6) |
p = 0.3¶ |
|
Adolescent’s age, yrs, mean (SD)
|
14.7 (0.6) |
14.7 (0.4) |
p = 0.4¶ |
|
Maternal education
| |||
| ≤High school diploma |
7.5 |
5.6 |
1.3 (0.6–2.9) |
| Some college or technical degree |
23.3 |
16.1 |
1.5 (1.0–2.2) |
| Bachelor’s degree |
33.6 |
41.4 |
0.8 (0.6–1.1) |
| Advanced degree |
35.6 |
36.9 |
1.0 (0.8–1.2) |
|
Mother born outside United States**
|
17.1 |
6.0 |
2.8 (1.6–5.2) |
|
Adolescent’s sex**
| |||
| Female |
19.9 |
51.0 |
0.4 (0.3–0.6) |
| Male |
80.1 |
49.0 |
1.6 (1.4–1.9) |
|
Adolescent’s race/ethnicity**,††
| |||
| White, non-Hispanic |
56.2 |
76.7 |
0.7 (0.6–0.9) |
| Black, non-Hispanic |
21.2 |
9.2 |
2.3 (1.4–3.8) |
| Other, non-Hispanic |
14.4 |
7.6 |
1.9 (1.1–3.4) |
| Hispanic |
8.2 |
6.4 |
1.3 (0.6–2.6) |
|
Primary language spoken in home**
| |||
| English |
93.2 |
96.8 |
1.0 (0.9–1.0) |
| Other |
6.8 |
3.2 |
2.1 (0.9–5.3) |
|
Current household income, % FPL§§
| |||
| <100 |
26.7 |
11.2 |
2.4 (1.6–3.8) |
| 100–199 |
16.4 |
10.8 |
1.6 (0.9–2.6) |
| 200–299 |
39.7 |
58.2 |
0.7 (0.6–0.9) |
| ≥300 |
11.6 |
16.5 |
0.7 (0.4–1.2) |
|
Insurance¶¶
|
|
|
|
| Private only |
51.4 |
90.0 |
0.6 (0.5–0.7) |
| Public only |
24.0 |
6.0 |
4.0 (2.3–7.0) |
| Both public and private |
23.3 |
3.2 |
7.3 (3.5–15.2) |
|
Daily living skills,*** mean (SD)
|
22.7 (7.1) |
31.5 (2.6) |
p≤0.001 |
| Autism symptom severity,††† mean (SD) | 70.7 (12.9) | 46.8 (8.1) | p≤0.001 |
Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; FPL = federal poverty level; PR = prevalence ratio; SD = standard deviation.
* Survey data were collected from four sites in Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania as part of a preliminary follow-up study of parents or guardians of adolescents aged 12–16 years who were enrolled in the Study to Explore Early Development (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/seed.html) at ages 2–5 years and initially identified as having autism (autism group) or as general population controls (control group).
† For categorical variables, unadjusted PRs were estimated using a modified Poisson regression with robust standard error (https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwh090) and study group (autism or control) as the only predictor variable.
§ PRs were considered significant when the 95% CI did not include the null value of 1.
¶ For continuous variables (e.g., maternal age, child age, daily living skills, and autism symptom severity), linear regression was conducted using study group (autism or control) as the only predictor variable.
** Data collected as part of original Study to Explore Early Development when child was aged 2–5 years.
†† Maternal and paternal race/ethnicity used in combination to assign adolescent race/ethnicity.
§§ Data missing for 16 participants (autism: n = 8; control: n = 8).
¶¶ Uninsured participants not reported because of small sample size (autism: n = 2; control: n = 2).
*** Current daily living skills measured by Waisman Activities of Daily Living, which contains 17 items; each item is rated as 0 = does not do, 1 = does with help, 2 = does on own. Item scores are summed to produce an overall score; a maximum score of 34 indicates complete independence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2012.08.005
††† Current autism symptoms measured by Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd edition parent-report for school-aged children (https://www.carautismroadmap.org/social-responsiveness-scale/). Scores <60 were considered not clinically significant symptoms of autism; scores of 60–65, 66–75, or >76 indicated mild, moderate, or severe deficiencies in reciprocal social behavior associated with autism, respectively.