Psychometric Studies of the Chinese Versions of the SRS, CAST, and AQ

Specific Aims:

• To identify the factor structures and norms of the SRS, CAST, and AQ;
• To assess the concurrent validity of the SRS, CAST, and AQ;
• To assess the discriminative validity of the three scales by testing the difference of total scores and subscales scores of the SRS, CAST, and AQ between the ASD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and control groups;
• To correlate the autistic characteristics between parents and children and compare the magnitude of correlations of autistic traits across the 3 groups.

This is a cross-sectional questionnaire survey in school-based and clinic-based samples. The participants include (1) ASD group: 200 cases with DSM-IV ASD; (2) ADHD group: 200 cases with DSM-IV ADHD; (3) Normally developing control group: a school-based sample of around 1200 grade 1 to grade 8 students. 100 students randomly selected from school-based sample will be reassessed at a 2-week interval for the test-retest reliability study. The teachers will complete the SRS and SNAP-IV (for ADHD symptoms); parents will report on their children on the SCQ, SRS, CAST, SNAP-IV, and CBCL, and report themselves on the SRS, AQ, and ASRI; children will report on themselves using the SRS, AQ, SNAP-IV, and YSR. Parents of clinical participants will be interviewed by the ADI-R or K-SADS-E to confirm their diagnosis of ASD and ADHD, respectively.

We expect that this study will reach the following objectives:

• To establish psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of SRS, CAST, and AQ for future use in clinical, school, and research settings;
• To obtain the preliminary information about the prevalence of ASD, and understand the correlation of autistic traits in family;
• To enhance the awareness of school teachers and counselors about ASD among students.

Inclusion criteria

• Control group: Subjects without ADHD or ASD;
• ADHD group & ASD group: subjects have a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, or ASD defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), which was made by a full-time board-certificated child psychiatrist at the first visit and following visits.

Exclusion criteria

• The subjects will be excluded from the study if they currently meet criteria or have a history of the following condition as defined by DSM-IV: Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Organic Psychosis, Mental Retardation, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Moreover, the subjects will be excluded from the control group if have a history of the following condition as defined by DSM-IV: ADHD or ASD in addition to the above exclusion criteria.