An investigation of the utility of the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in young children.

Background: Early diagnosis of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) assists in implementing critical early support. The challenge lies in having a diagnostic process that enables valid and reliable assessment of domains of functioning in young children, with the added complexity that many children will also have co-occurring exposure to childhood adversity that is likely to impact these domains.

Methods: The aim of this study was to test a diagnostic assessment of FASD in young children using the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of FASD.