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University Students' Notion of Autism Spectrum Conditions: A Cross-Cultural Study

de Vries M 1 , Cader S 2 , Colleer L 3 , Batteux E 3 , Yasdiman MB 3 , Tan YJ 2 Show all authors , Sheppard E 3

Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia. Marieke.DeVries@Nottingham.edu.my
  • 2 School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK
J Autism Dev Disord, 2020 Apr;50(4):1281-1294.
PMID: 31901119 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04343-z

Abstract

Cultural background might influence knowledge and attitudes regarding autism, influencing willingness to interact. We studied whether beliefs, knowledge, contact, and attitude differed between the UK and Malaysia. With mediation analyses, we studied how these factors influenced willingness to interact. Autism was more often linked to food in the UK, and to upbringing in Malaysia. Knowledge, contact, and acceptance were greater in the UK. When excluding psychology students, Malaysian students were less willing to interact with autistic people. Knowledge and contact appeared to improve acceptance, but acceptance did not mediate the relation between country, beliefs, knowledge, and experience; and willingness to interact. Knowledge and contact regarding autism might improve acceptance in different cultures, but how acceptance could improve interaction is unclear.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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