Discriminant and Convergent Validity of the Anxiety Construct in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 43; no. 9; pp. 2135 - 2146
• Main Authors: Renno, Patricia, Wood, Jeffrey J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.09.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety - complications; Anxiety - diagnosis; Anxiety Disorders; Anxiety Disorders - complications; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Autistic spectrum disorders; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Care and treatment; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child clinical studies; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - complications; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - diagnosis; Children; Clinical Diagnosis; Comorbidity; Complications and side effects; Developmental disorders; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Infantile autism; Interviews; Male; Medical sciences; Multitrait Multimethod Techniques; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public Health; Risk factors; Separation Anxiety; Severity; Severity (of Disability); Severity of Illness Index; Structural Equation Models; Symptoms; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Construct validity; Anxiety; Discriminant validity; Autism spectrum disorder; Human; Affect affectivity; Psychometrics; Developmental disorder; Test validation; Autism; Pervasive developmental disorder; Convergent validity; Child
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-013-1767-1

Despite reports of high anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), there is controversy regarding differential diagnosis of ASD symptoms and anxiety symptoms. This study examined 88 children, aged 7–11 years, with ASD referred for concerns about anxiety. A multitrait-(social anxiety, separation anxiety, overall anxiety severity, and overall ASD severity), multimethod-(diagnostic interviews, parent-, and child-based measures) analysis was conducted. Results from structural equation modeling suggest statistical discrimination between anxiety and ASD severity and convergence among differing reports of two of the anxiety subdomains (separation anxiety and overall anxiety). These findings suggest that anxiety symptoms experienced by children with ASD are separate from ASD symptom severity and may instead reflect anxiety syndromes (e.g., separation anxiety) similar to those that occur in typically developing children.