The Development and Validation of a Subscale for the School-Age Child Behavior CheckList to Screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Julia E Offermans; Esther I de Bruin; Aurelie M C Lange; Christel M Middeldorp; Laura W Wesseldijk; Dorret I Boomsma; Gwen C Dieleman; Susan M Bögels; Francisca J A van Steensel

doi:10.1007/s10803-022-05465-7

The Development and Validation of a Subscale for the School-Age Child Behavior CheckList to Screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Mar;53(3):1034-1052. doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05465-7. Epub 2022 Feb 15.

Authors

Julia E Offermans^{1

2}, Esther I de Bruin^{3

4}, Aurelie M C Lange⁵, Christel M Middeldorp^{6

7}, Laura W Wesseldijk^{8

9}, Dorret I Boomsma¹⁰, Gwen C Dieleman¹¹, Susan M Bögels¹², Francisca J A van Steensel⁴

Affiliations

¹ UvA minds: Academic Treatment Center for Parents and Children, Banstraat 29, 1071 JW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. joffermans@uvaminds.nl.
² Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, 1018 WS, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. joffermans@uvaminds.nl.
³ UvA minds: Academic Treatment Center for Parents and Children, Banstraat 29, 1071 JW, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, 1018 WS, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁵ Viersprong: Institute for Studies on Personality Disorders, De Beeklaan 2, 4661 EP, Halsteren, the Netherlands.
⁶ Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland, 62 Graham Street, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia.
⁷ Child and Youth Mental Health Service, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, 501 Stanley Street, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia.
⁸ Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Solnavägen 9, 171 65, Solna, Sweden.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Academic Medical Center-Location AMC-University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹⁰ Department of Biological Psychology, Free University of Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center-Sophia Children's Hospital, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
¹² Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WS, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Abstract

The first aim of this study was to construct/validate a subscale-with cut-offs considering gender/age differences-for the school-age Child Behavior CheckList (CBCL) to screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) applying both data-driven (N = 1666) and clinician-expert (N = 15) approaches. Further, we compared these to previously established CBCL ASD profiles/subscales and DSM-oriented subscales. The second aim was to cross-validate results in two truly independent samples (N = 2445 and 886). Despite relatively low discriminative power of all subscales in the cross-validation samples, results indicated that the data-driven subscale had the best potential to screen for ASD and a similar screening potential as the DSM-oriented subscales. Given beneficial implications for pediatric/clinical practice, we encourage colleagues to continue the validation of this CBCL ASD subscale.

Keywords: Achenbach System of empirically based Assessment (ASEBA); Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Child Behavior CheckList (CBCL); Children and adolescents; Screening.

MeSH terms

Autism Spectrum Disorder* / diagnosis
Checklist / methods
Child
Child Behavior
Child Behavior Disorders* / diagnosis
Humans
Parents