The Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised: Independent Validation in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 855 - 866
• Main Authors: Lam, Kristen S. L, Aman, Michael G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer 01.05.2007; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Activity Units; Administrator Surveys; Adolescent; Adult; Anxiety Disorders; Auditory Stimuli; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic Disorder - epidemiology; Behavior Patterns; Behavior Problems; Behavior rating scales; Biological and medical sciences; Caregivers; Child; Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; Child Behavior Disorders - epidemiology; Child, Preschool; Compulsions; Discrimination Learning; Evaluation Methods; Factor Analysis; Female; Humans; Infant; Interrater Reliability; Likert Scales; Male; Medical sciences; Modeling (Psychology); Observational Learning; Observer Variation; Periodicity; Pharmacology; Phenomenology; Principals; Psychiatry; Psychological Patterns; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Questionnaires; Rating Scales; Repetitive behaviour; Reproducibility of Results; Resistance (Psychology); Scales; Self Destructive Behavior; Self injury; Severity of Illness Index; South Carolina; Stereotyped behavior; Stereotypes; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Techniques and methods; Validity; South Carolina; Human; Evaluation; Stereotypies; Factor analysis; Questionnaire; Internal consistency; Assessment; Psychometrics; Developmental disorder; Revised drafting; Test reliability; Rating scale; Test validation; Autism; Autism, Repetitive behavior; Interrater agreement; Stereotypy
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-006-0213-z

A key feature of autism is restricted repetitive behavior (RRB). Despite the significance of RRBs, little is known about their phenomenology, assessment, and treatment. The Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R) is a recently-developed questionnaire that captures the breadth of RRB in autism. To validate the RBS-R in an independent sample, we conducted a survey within the South Carolina Autism Society. A total of 320 caregivers (32%) responded. Factor analysis produced a five-factor solution that was clinically meaningful and statistically sound. The factors were labeled "Ritualistic/Sameness Behavior," "Stereotypic Behavior," "Self-injurious Behavior," "Compulsive Behavior," and "Restricted Interests." Measures of internal consistency were high for this solution, and interrater reliability data suggested that the RBS-R performs well in outpatient settings.