Healthcare Students' Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Peers with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Vasiliki Zarokanellou, Evridiki Papagiannopoulou, Alexandros Gryparis and 4 others
PMID 38700777WHAT IT FOUND
Healthcare students held more negative attitudes toward peers with autism-like behaviors when the diagnosis was hidden.
Knowing the label 'high-functioning autism' led to more positive responses than seeing the same behaviors without explanation. Personal familiarity with autism did not improve attitudes.
Key findings
01Students reported significantly more negative attitudes (higher MAS scores) toward the no-label group compared to the high-functioning autism label group across affective, behavioral, and cognitive subscales.
02Previous personal contact with or familiarity with a person with autism did not significantly predict more positive attitudes toward the hypothetical vignette characters.
03Male students reported significantly more positive cognitive attitudes than female students, but gender did not significantly affect affective or behavioral attitudes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used hypothetical vignettes rather than real-life interactions, which may not fully capture complex social dynamics. The sample was limited to healthcare students in Greece, restricting generalizability to other disciplines or cultural contexts. The label 'high-functioning' was used, which the authors note may influence results compared to other descriptors. The sample was predominantly female (82%), which may affect the generalizability of gender-related findings.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the University of Ioannina. No other conflicts of interest are reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that labeling students with autism automatically reduces stigma in all contexts. The positive effect of the label was observed only when compared to unexplained behaviors; the 'typical student' label (which described behaviors without the ASD diagnosis) did not consistently improve attitudes, suggesting that the specific attribution to 'high-functioning autism' was the key factor, not just the presence of a label.