Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39570555›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

Parental Acceptance and Understanding of Autistic Children (PAUACS) - an Instrument Development Study.

Jia Ying Sarah Lee, Koa Whittingham, Amy E Mitchell

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Systematic review of measures and interventions for caregiver adjustment to child autism diagnosis.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Jia Ying Sarah LeeQueensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre, UQ Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia. lee.jy.sarah@uq.net.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0186-8701
Koa WhittinghamQueensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre, UQ Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia.
Amy E MitchellSchool of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Funding

Children's Hospital Foundation ECF0112020
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Currently there are no instruments designed to assess parents' acceptance and understanding of their autistic child. We aimed to develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of a parent-report scale assessing parents' acceptance and understanding of their autistic child - the Parental Acceptance and Understanding of Autistic Children Scale (PAUACS). A total of 158 parents (74 non-autistic, 42 autistic, 42 questioning; mean age 42.69 years) of autistic children (mean age 10.80 years) completed an online survey comprising the prototype PAUACS as well as validated measures of parental sensitivity, neurodiversity affirming attitudes, autistic traits, mental health, and child adjustment and family experience. A subsample of participants (n = 97; 61.4%) completed the PAUACS questionnaire a second time, 2 weeks later, to assess for test-retest reliability. The final 30-item scale demonstrated excellent internal reliability (α = 0.89) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation = 0.92). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a clean structure comprising four distinct factors: Understanding (α = 0.86), Innate (α = 0.74), Acceptance (α = 0.82), and Expectations (α = 0.73). Overall, the PAUACS demonstrates good construct validity. Preliminary evidence of convergent validity and divergent validity was demonstrated. Preliminary evidence suggests PAUACS is a reliable and valid tool in assessing parents' acceptance and understanding of autistic children.

Indexed as

Autistic DisorderParent-Child RelationsParentsAdolescentAdultChildFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPsychometricsReproducibility of ResultsSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultAcceptanceAutismChildrenParentingUnderstanding

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.