Prevalence and Correlates of Elopement in a Nationally Representative Sample of Children with Developmental Disabilities in the United States.

Bridget Kiely,Andrew Adesman,Sujit Vettam,Talia R Migdal,Andrea Martinuzzi

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148337

Bridget Kiely, Andrew Adesman + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148337

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Abstract

Despite increased awareness and concern about children with developmental disabilities wandering away from adult supervision, there is a paucity of research about elopement. This is the first study to examine and report the prevalence and correlates of elopement in a nationally representative sample of school-age children in the United States with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or cognitive impairment. Data were obtained from the CDC's "Pathways" Survey, a follow-up telephone survey of the parents of 4,032 children with a developmental condition. 3,518 children that had ASD, intellectual disability (ID), and/or developmental delay (DD) at the time of survey administration were included for analysis. Children were divided into three condition groups: ASD-only; ID/DD-only; ASD+ID/DD. Logistic regression analyses were used to compare the prevalence of elopement and rates of preventive measure use (barriers and/or electronic devices) across condition groups, and to examine the clinical and demographic correlates of elopement. T-tests were also performed to compare scores on the Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ) between wanderers and non-wanderers. Overall, 26.7% of children had reportedly eloped within the previous year, most commonly from public places. Children with ASD-only and ASD+ID/DD were more likely to have eloped than those with ID/DD-only. Across all groups, wanderers scored higher than non-wanderers on five out of six CSBQ subscales; they were more likely not to realize when there is danger, to have difficulty distinguishing between strangers and familiar people, to show sudden mood changes, to over-react to everything/everyone, to get angry quickly, to get lost easily, and to panic in new situations or if change occurs. Even after controlling for elopement history, parents of children in the ASD+ID/DD group were more likely than those in the other condition groups to report using physical or electronic measures to prevent wandering.

Highlights

As the prevalence of developmental disabilities in the United States continues to rise, there is a need to better understand the behaviors that may compromise the safety and well-being of this population [1]
Data were obtained from the 2011 Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services (“Pathways”), a cross sectional, nationally representative survey of the parents and guardians of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) ages 6–17 with a current or past parent-reported diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), and/or developmental delay (DD)
This study utilized data from a nationally representative sample of 4,032 parents and guardians of CSHCN between the ages of 6 and 17 who were reported to have ever been diagnosed with ASD, ID, and/or DD

Summary

Introduction

As the prevalence of developmental disabilities in the United States continues to rise, there is a need to better understand the behaviors that may compromise the safety and well-being of this population [1]. Several high-profile incidents have drawn attention to wandering, or elopement, as a potential cause of injury in children with developmental disabilities. Elopement may place a significant burden on affected families by causing anxiety and increasing the need for monitoring and supervision. There is a dearth of published research on elopement in children with developmental disabilities, and little is known about the prevalence and correlates of wandering behaviors in this population [2]

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