Building a theoretical framework for autism spectrum disorders screening instruments in Europe

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Early detection of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) requires a robust theoretical foundation.
• Existing European ASD screening tools were evaluated by experts to understand their underlying structure.
• Expert consensus is crucial for refining early ASD detection methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a theoretical basis for developing improved early autism spectrum disorder (ASD) detection tools.
• To explore the structural components of effective early ASD screening.
• To identify expert-validated constructs and items for early ASD identification.

Main Methods:

• Face and content validity were assessed using established psychometric principles.
• Key constructs were selected from prominent ASD screening tools, including M-CHAT and SCQ.
• Fehring's diagnostic content validity model guided the selection of items and constructs.

Main Results:

• Experts selected 12 out of 18 evaluated constructs.
• A total of 130 items were initially considered, reduced to eight key items after removing redundancies.
• The selected constructs and items demonstrated good face and content validity.

Conclusions:

• The identified constructs and items align well with DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD.
• This research provides a validated framework for enhancing early ASD screening instruments.
• Expert-identified key behaviors are crucial for improving the accuracy of early ASD detection.