Diagnostic stability of autism spectrum disorder in toddlers prospectively identified in a community-based setting: Behavioural characteristics and predictors of change over time

Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience deficits in social knowledge. It has long been theorized that these youth must learn these skills explicitly, and social skills interventions (SSIs) have followed suit. Recently, performance-based SSIs have emerged, which promote in vivo opportunities for social engagement without explicit instruction. Effects of performance-based SSIs on social knowledge have not been examined. This study employs two discrete samples (one lab-based, one community-based) of youth with ASD to examine the effects of performance-based interventions on social knowledge. Results largely support the efficacy and effectiveness of improving social knowledge by performance-based interventions without explicit teaching. This indicates that youth with ASD may be able to learn these aspects of social cognition implicitly, rather than exclusively explicitly. The results of the current study also suggest that SSI content, dosage, and intensity may relate to these outcomes, which are important considerations in clinical practice and future studies.

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Risk and Correlates of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children With Epilepsy: A Community-Based Study

Journal of Child Neurology ◽

10.1177/0883073810384869 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (5) ◽

pp. 540-547 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Anne T. Berg ◽

Sigita Plioplys ◽

Roberto Tuchman

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Community Based

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Comparison of community-based verbal behavior and pivotal response treatment programs for young children with autism spectrum disorder

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.rasd.2013.06.002 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 7 (9) ◽

pp. 1168-1181 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Richard Stock ◽

Pat Mirenda ◽

Isabel M. Smith

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Young Children ◽

Verbal Behavior ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Pivotal Response Treatment ◽

Treatment Programs ◽

Community Based ◽

Young Children With Autism

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Structure, longitudinal invariance, and stability of the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Autism Spectrum Disorder scale: Findings from Generation R (Rotterdam)

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361317736201 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 223-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Leslie A Rescorla ◽

Akhgar Ghassabian ◽

Masha Y Ivanova ◽

Vincent WV Jaddoe ◽

Frank C Verhulst ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Child Behavior ◽

Child Behavior Checklist ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Statistical Manual ◽

Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽

Base Rates ◽

Over Time

Although the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5’s 12-item Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Autism Spectrum Problems Scale (formerly called Pervasive Developmental Problems scale) has been used in several studies as an autism spectrum disorder screener, the base rate and stability of its items and its measurement model have not been previously studied. We therefore examined the structure, longitudinal invariance, and stability of the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Autism Spectrum Problems Scale in the diverse Generation R (Rotterdam) sample based on mothers’ ratings at 18 months ( n = 4695), 3 years ( n = 4571), and 5 years ( n = 5752). Five items that seemed especially characteristic of autism spectrum disorder had low base rates at all three ages. The rank order of base rates for the 12 items was highly correlated over time ( Qs ⩾ 0.86), but the longitudinal stability of individual items was modest (phi coefficients = 0.15–0.34). Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the autism spectrum disorder scale model manifested configural, metric, and scalar longitudinal invariance over the time period from 18 months to 5 years, with large factor loadings. Correlations over time for observed autism spectrum disorder scale scores (0.25–0.50) were generally lower than the correlations across time of the latent factors (0.45–0.68). Results indicated significant associations of the autism spectrum disorder scale with later autism spectrum disorder diagnoses.

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