Purpose of review: The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) is a screener for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) validated for age 4.0 +. There is a clinical need for an ASD screener for children beyond the 30-month age limit of the M-CHAT-R/F. We evaluate the literature on the use of the SCQ in children < 4.0 years.
Recent findings: Recent studies have used very large samples; included typically developing children, rather than just those with developmental disorders; compared the SCQ Lifetime and Current versions; and increased scrutiny of internal validity.
Summary: The sensitivity-specificity balance in distinguishing between ASD and other developmental disorders is poor, which has led to development of abbreviated versions of the SCQ; however, sensitivity-specificity balance is better in a more general population. The SCQ Lifetime (not Current) version should be used. Future research relating should focus on further validation of the SCQ as a screener for children 30-48 months.
Keywords: Area under ROC curve analysis; Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Early childhood screening; Psychometric properties; Sensitivity and specificity; Social communication questionnaire (SCQ).