e-Pedagogium 2018, 18(1):16-32 | DOI: 10.5507/epd.2018.003

Knowledge of university students about autism spectrum disorders measured by a validated test

Veronika Bárová, Dana Brabcová, Jiří Kohout
Dana Brabcová, vedoucí autorského kolektivu, Katedra psychologie, Fakulta pedagogická, Západočeská univerzita v Plzni, Klatovská 51, 301 00 Plzeň, E-mail: dannab@seznam.cz

Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been significantly rising in the last decades due to improvement in diagnostic and other factors. Not surprisingly, it also results in higher attention devoted to this issue in education. Despite the importance of the topic, no systematic study focusing on knowledge of ASD has been yet carried out in the Czech Republic, and there is no reliable test enabling quantification of this variable. Thus, we aimed to validate a 24-item test measuring knowledge of autism spectrum disorders and to explore the level of knowledge in Czech university students. The research was carried out on a sample of 328 students of different majors (science, humanities, technology) at the University of West Bohemia and University of South Bohemia. We found out that the instrument taking into consideration also the level of confidence of respondents shows very good psychometric properties (Cronbach's alpha of 0.816, test-retest reliability of 0.825). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a one-factor solution with the sole factor corresponding to overall knowledge of ASD. The average success rate in the test was 36.4%, and no effect of the field of study was observed here. Common misconceptions such as that ASD are caused by vaccination have been identified. The presented results suggest that an effective intervention focusing on improvement of knowledge of ASD, especially among future teachers, would be highly needed.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, knowledge, students, questionnaire, reliability

Published: March 1, 2018  Show citation

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Bárová, V., Brabcová, D., & Kohout, J. (2018). Knowledge of university students about autism spectrum disorders measured by a validated test. e-Pedagogium, 18(1), 16-32. doi: 10.5507/epd.2018.003
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