Measuring Adaptive Behavior in Patients with Mendelian Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Comparison of ABAS-3 and Dutch Vineland Scales

Joost Kummeling; Karlijn Vermeulen-Kalk; Veerle Souverein; Linde C M van Dongen; Wouter Oomens; Joost G E Janzing; Monica Pop-Purceleanu; Tjitske Kleefstra; Jos I M Egger

doi:10.36131/cnfioritieditore20230507

Measuring Adaptive Behavior in Patients with Mendelian Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Comparison of ABAS-3 and Dutch Vineland Scales

Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2023 Oct;20(5):453-461. doi: 10.36131/cnfioritieditore20230507.

Authors

Joost Kummeling^{1

2}, Karlijn Vermeulen-Kalk^{1

3}, Veerle Souverein¹, Linde C M van Dongen^{1

2

4}, Wouter Oomens⁴, Joost G E Janzing⁵, Monica Pop-Purceleanu⁵, Tjitske Kleefstra^{1

2

4}, Jos I M Egger^{1

2

4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
² Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
³ Department for Intellectual Disabilities, Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Center, Ede, The Netherlands.
⁴ Centers of Excellence for Neuropsychiatry, Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, Venray, The Netherlands.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁶ Stevig Specialized and Forensic Care for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Dichterbij, Oostrum, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Objective: Several instruments are available for measuring (aspects of) adaptive functioning, but knowledge is lacking about which is best to use to monitor patients with etiologically homogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders. In this study we compare the use of the Vineland-Z and ABAS-3 adaptive behavior scales in such a specific group.

Method: Of patients with a molecularly confirmed diagnosis of Kleefstra syndrome, 34 were assessed with both the Vineland-Z and ABAS-3 of which 12 (35,3%) males and 22 (64,7%) females. Raw scores and developmental ages were calculated and a comparison between the instruments was done via correlation analysis.

Results: Biological age ranged from 12 to 50 years old (median age of 23,1 ± 9,6 years). Pearson r correlation analyses show that the Vineland-Z and ABAS-3 assessments are highly interchangeable in this population. However, there are practical issues which require attention: (i) the use of ABAS-3 needs several versions to cover the whole adaptive spectrum, and (ii) the Vineland-Z discriminates more at the lower end of the adaptive functioning spectrum compared to the ABAS-3, but less at the higher end. An ideal instrument for this specific purpose is not yet available.

Conclusions: We recommend that either the Vineland-Z, with modification of the dated items, the abridged version of the Vineland III, or a merge of the 0-4/517 ABAS-3 versions would work best to assess the entire spectrum of adaptive functioning adequately.

Keywords: Kleefstra Syndrome; adaptive behavior; measurement; neurodevelopmental disorders; validity.