We estimated the effects of information avoidance and information seeking among parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on age of diagnosis. An online survey was completed by 1,815 parents of children with ASD. Children of parents who self-reported that they had preferred "not to know," reported diagnoses around 3 months later than other children. Children of parents who raised concerns that they perceived as having been dealt with adequately reported diagnoses about 4 months earlier, but the children of parents who reported raising concerns repeatedly and felt that those concerns were dealt with inadequately were diagnosed over a year later. These findings suggest that failure of educational and healthcare professionals, in either substituting for parents who avoid information, or supporting those who seek information, can significantly delay the age of diagnosis.

中文翻译：

---

ASD 儿童家长的信息回避和信息寻求。

我们评估了被诊断患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的儿童的父母中信息回避和信息寻求对诊断年龄的影响。1,815 名 ASD 儿童的父母完成了一项在线调查。自我报告说他们更喜欢“不知道”的父母的孩子比其他孩子晚大约 3 个月报告诊断。提出他们认为已得到充分处理的担忧的父母的孩子在大约 4 个月前报告了诊断，但那些反复提出担忧并认为这些担忧没有得到充分处理的父母的孩子在一年多后才被诊断出来。这些调查结果表明，教育和医疗保健专业人员在替代回避信息的父母方面的失败，