Application of Psychometric Approach for ASD Evaluation in Russian 3–4-Year-Olds

Andrey Nasledov, Sergey Miroshnikov, Liubov Tkacheva, Kirill Miroshnik and Meriam Uld Semeta
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Andrey Nasledov: Department of Pedagogy and Pedagogical Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, 7/7 Universitetskaya Emb., 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Sergey Miroshnikov: Department of Pedagogy and Pedagogical Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, 7/7 Universitetskaya Emb., 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Liubov Tkacheva: Department of Pedagogy and Pedagogical Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, 7/7 Universitetskaya Emb., 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Kirill Miroshnik: Faculty of Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Meriam Uld Semeta: Department of Medical Psychology and Psychophysiology, Saint Petersburg State University, 7/7 Universitetskaya Emb., 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia

Mathematics, 2021, vol. 9, issue 14, 1-21

Abstract: Background: Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a significant socio-biological problem due to its wide prevalence and negative outcomes. In the current study, we aimed to develop an autism scale for early and accurate differentiation of 3- to 4-year-olds at risk for ASD since there is no systematic monitoring of young children in Russia yet. Methods: The total sample (N = 324) included 116 children with ASD, 131 children without ASD (healthy controls), and 77 children with developmental delay (DD). An online survey of specialists working with children was conducted based on a specially designed autism questionnaire consisting of 85 multiple-choice tasks distributed across 12 domains. Initially, each child was assessed by 434 items using a dichotomous scale (0 = no , 1 = yes ). Factor and discriminant analyses were performed to identify a compact set of subscales that most accurately and with sufficient reliability predicted whether a child belongs to the ASD group. Results: As a result, four subscales were obtained: Sensorics, Emotions, Hyperactivity, and Communication. The high discriminability of the subscales in distinguishing the ASD group from the non-ASD group was revealed (accuracy 85.5–87.0%). Overall, the obtained subscales meet psychometric requirements and allow for creating an online screening system for wide application.

Keywords: screening; markers of mental development; ASD; construction of scales; 3–4-year-olds (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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