ASD is one of the most heritable neuropsychiatric disorders, though comprehensive genetic liability remains elusive. To facilitate genetic research, researchers employ the concept of the broad autism phenotype (BAP), a milder presentation of traits in undiagnosed relatives. Research suggests that the BAP Questionnaire (BAPQ) demonstrates…

The World Health Organization's Quality of Life Questionnaire-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) has been used in many studies that target parents of children with Autistic Disorder. However, the measure has yet to be validated and adapted to this sample group whose daily experiences are considered substantially different from those of parents of children…

The recent "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition" ("DSM-5") reformulation of autism spectrum disorder has received empirical support from North American and UK samples. Autism spectrum disorder is an increasingly global diagnosis, and research is needed to discover how well it generalises beyond…

The current study was motivated by a need for a self-report questionnaire that assesses a broad range of subthreshold autism traits, is brief and easily administered, and is relevant to the general population. An initial item pool was administered to 1,709 students. Structural validity analysis resulted in a 24-item questionnaire termed the…

Objective: To use confirmatory factor analysis to test the construct validity of the proposed "DSM-5" symptom model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison to alternative models, including that described in "DSM-IV-TR." Method: Participants were 708 verbal children and young persons (mean age, 9.5 years) with mild to severe autistic…

Limited studies have investigated the latent autistic traits in the mainland Chinese population for autism spectrum conditions (ASC). This study explored the psychometric properties of a Mandarin Chinese version of the CAST in a sample consisting of 737 children in mainstream schools and 50 autistic cases. A combination of categorical data factor…

This study validates the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire for children (SPSRQ-C), using a Dutch sample of 1234 children between 6-13 years old. Factor analysis determined that a 4-factor and a 5-factor solution were best fitting, explaining 41% and 50% of the variance respectively. The 4-factor model was highly…

Background: Multivariate statistics can assist in refining the nosology and diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and also contribute important information for genetic studies. The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is one of the most widely used assessment instruments in the field of PDD. The current study investigated its…

Background: Clinical heterogeneity of autism likely hinders efforts to find genes associated with this complex psychiatric disorder. Some studies have produced promising results by restricting the sample according to the expression of specific familial factors or components of autism. Previous factor analyses of the restricted, repetitive…

Validity studies of measures for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) for use with preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are lacking. The Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 (CBCL; Achenbach and Rescorla, Manual for the ASEBA Preschool Forms & Profiles. VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and…

The factor structure of the Dutch translation of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ; a continuous, quantitative measure of autistic traits) was evaluated with confirmatory factor analyses in a large general population and student sample. The criterion validity of the AQ was examined in three matched patient groups (autism spectrum conditions (ASC),…

Background: A number of disorders are associated with pragmatic difficulties. Instruments that can make subdivisions within the larger construct of pragmatics could be important tools for disentangling profiles of pragmatic difficulty in different disorders. The deficits underlying the observed pragmatic difficulties may be different for different…

Surveyed 77 mothers to see if reactions to their severely handicapped child (13-128 months) fit a five-category adjustment model (shock-confusion, refusal-denial, guilt-anger, despair-depression-disorganization, and adjustment-recovery-acceptance). Factor analysis indicated that a three-factor model, (shock-guilt-despair, refusal-denial, and…

Background: Repetitive and stereotyped behaviours are a heterogeneous group of behaviours present in many neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite their core significance in PDD, it is not clear whether there are distinct groups of these behaviours with different specificity to autism. Methods: A two-factor model of the repetitive behaviours, namely…

A method for empirical classification of autistic and autisticlike children, based on behavior observations of 35 males and 11 females (ages 4-28 years) was examined. Factor and cluster analysis indicated four subtypes, characterized by perseverative thinking and play, motor disturbances, schizotypal/schizoid features, and anxiety and negativism.…