Utility of the CBCL DSM-oriented scales in assessing emotional disorders in youth with autism

• Published in: Research in autism spectrum disorders Vol. 37; pp. 11 - 20
• Main Authors: Magyar, Caroline I., Pandolfi, Vincent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2017
• Subjects: Anxiety; Assessment; Autism; CBCL; Depression; DSM; Emotional disorders; Autism; Emotional disorders; Assessment; CBCL; Depression; Anxiety; DSM; Emotional Disorders
• ISSN: 1750-9467; 1878-0237
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2017.01.009

•Emotional disorders are common in youth with autism spectrum disorder.•Over 40% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder have more than two mental health conditions.•Routine screening during later childhood and adolescence is needed for early identification.•The Child Behavior Checklist's Syndrome Scales can assist with broad screening for a range of emotional and behavior disorders.•The Child Behavior Checklist's DSM-oriented scales can assist with the targeted assessment of depression and anxiety. Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for one or more emotional disorders (ED) including depressive and anxiety conditions. DSM-5 diagnostic guidelines indicate that co-occurring ED must be specified when present. While ED may be evaluated for during initial diagnostic assessment, routine monitoring and screening is needed to identify emerging ED in later childhood and adolescence, a period of high risk. Confirmatory factor analysis, convergent and divergent validity analyses, criterion-related validity, and diagnostic accuracy analyses of the CBCL's Affective Problems and Anxiety Problems DSM-oriented scales was completed on 93 well-characterized youth, ages 6 to 18 years with ASD (6:1 M:F), with and without intellectual impairment. These youth were from predominately white, middle-class backgrounds. Each scale measured a single construct reliably (depressive and anxiety disorders), neither scale measured symptoms of ASD, and youth with a depressive disorder had other ED co-morbidities. Findings demonstrate the DSM-Oriented Affective and Anxiety Problem Scales can be used to screen for depression and anxiety in youth with ASD. Replication is needed with various subgroups representing gender, age, developmental level, autism, and mental health severity differences and with groups across a broader set of demographics.