Brief Report: An Evaluation of the Social Communication Questionnaire as a Screening Tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young People Referred to Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services

TY - JOUR

T1 - Brief Report

T2 - An Evaluation of the Social Communication Questionnaire as a Screening Tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young People Referred to Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services

AU - Hollocks, Matthew J

AU - Casson, Roland

AU - White, Clare

AU - Dobson, Jess

AU - Beazley, Peter

AU - Humphrey, Ayla

PY - 2019/6

Y1 - 2019/6

N2 - The SCQ is a widely used screening measure for the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, its sensitivity and specificity when used with older children in the context of community Child & Adolescent Mental Health services is unclear. Seventy-seven (Mean age = 12.8 years) young people with suspected ASD were screened using parent- and teacher-reported SCQ's before completing a comprehensive diagnostic assessment. Of the 77 young people included, 44 (57%) met criteria for an ASD diagnosis. Our results indicated that regardless of informant, SCQ scores did not significantly predict the outcome of the diagnostic assessment. Based on the published cut-off score for the SCQ, Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analyses revealed a lower than expected sensitivity and specificity. This suggests that the SCQ is not an effective screening tool when used in the context of community Child & Adolescent Mental Health services.

AB - The SCQ is a widely used screening measure for the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, its sensitivity and specificity when used with older children in the context of community Child & Adolescent Mental Health services is unclear. Seventy-seven (Mean age = 12.8 years) young people with suspected ASD were screened using parent- and teacher-reported SCQ's before completing a comprehensive diagnostic assessment. Of the 77 young people included, 44 (57%) met criteria for an ASD diagnosis. Our results indicated that regardless of informant, SCQ scores did not significantly predict the outcome of the diagnostic assessment. Based on the published cut-off score for the SCQ, Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analyses revealed a lower than expected sensitivity and specificity. This suggests that the SCQ is not an effective screening tool when used in the context of community Child & Adolescent Mental Health services.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Autism Spectrum Disorder/diagnosis

KW - Child

KW - Child, Preschool

KW - Communication

KW - Community Mental Health Services

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Parents

KW - ROC Curve

KW - Sensitivity and Specificity

KW - Surveys and Questionnaires

U2 - 10.1007/s10803-019-03982-6

DO - 10.1007/s10803-019-03982-6

M3 - Article

C2 - 30972651

SN - 0162-3257

VL - 49

SP - 2618

EP - 2623

JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

IS - 6

ER -