| Title: |
Validation of the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers in an Italian Clinical Sample of Young Children With Autism and Other Developmental Disorders. |
| Authors: |
Ruta, Liliana; Chiarotti, Flavia; Arduino, Giuseppe Maurizio; Apicella, Fabio; Leonardi, Elisa; Maggio, Roberta; Carrozza, Cristina; Chericoni, Natasha; Costanzo, Valeria; Turco, Nazarena; Tartarisco, Gennaro; Gagliano, Antonella; Allison, Carrie; Baron Cohen, Simon; Pioggia, Giovanni; Muratori, Filippo |
| Publisher Information: |
Frontiers; //doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00488 |
| Publication Year: |
2019 |
| Collection: |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
| Subject Terms: |
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD); Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers; autism; early screening; toddlers |
| Description: |
Background: The Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) is parent-report screening questionnaire for detecting threshold and sub-threshold autistic features in toddlers. The Q-CHAT is a dimensional measure normally distributed in the general population sample and is able to differentiate between a group of children with a diagnosis of autism and unselected toddlers. Objectives: We aim to investigate the psychometric properties, score distribution, and external validity of the Q-CHAT in an Italian clinical sample of young children with autism versus children with developmental delay and typically developing children. Method: N = 126 typically developing children (TD), n = 139 children with autism, and n = 50 children presenting developmental delay (DD) were administered the Q-CHAT. Standardized measures of cognitive functions, language, and behaviors were also obtained. Results: The Q-CHAT scores were normally distributed and demonstrated adequate internal consistency and good item to total score correlations. The mean Q-CHAT score in the autism group was significantly higher than those found in the DD sample and TD children. No difference on the mean Q-CHAT score between DD and TD children was found. The accuracy of the Q-CHAT to discriminate between autism and TD was very good. Two different cut-points (27 and 31, respectively) maximized sensitivity and specificity for autism versus TD and DD, respectively. Finally, higher Q-CHAT scores were correlated with lower language and social communication skills. Conclusions: In clinical settings, the Q-CHAT demonstrated good psychometric properties and external validity to discriminate autism children not just from children with typical development but also from children with developmental delay. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
Electronic-eCollection; application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296085 |
| DOI: |
10.17863/CAM.43131 |
| Availability: |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/296085; https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.43131 |
| Rights: |
Attribution 4.0 International ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.80AD29E6 |
| Database: |
BASE |