The High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ)
The ASSQ is a 27-item informant-report questionnaire assessing symptoms characteristic of Asperger’s syndrome and other high-functioning Autism Spectrum disorders in children and adolescents with normal intelligence or mild mental retardation. Eleven items cover social interaction, 6 items cover communication problems, and 5 refer to restricted and repetitive behavior. The remaining items cover motor clumsiness and other associated symptoms (including motor and vocal tics). Informants are asked if the child subject stands out from other children of his/her age in various ways, and respond on a 3-point scale: 0-No, 2-Somewhat and 3-Yes.
Note: Guardians of children, ages 6-17 years old, complete the ASSQ
References: Ehlers, S., & C. Gillberg, et al. (1999). A screening questionnaire for Asperger syndrome and other high-functioning Autism Spectrum disorders in school age children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29(2), 129-141.
Diagnostic Summary
Study staff, following completion and review of the SCID and ACDS or KSADS, completes the diagnostic summary.
Note: Item level data for the follow assessments are not released.
- Adult ADHD Clinical Diagnostic Scale (ACDS) V 1.2: This is a semi-structured interview that establishes both current adult symptomatology and the presence of any ADHD symptoms in childhood. The 18 items in the ACDS match the 18 symptom domains of ADHD noted in DSM-IV. As the SCID does not cover ADHD it is used in conjunction in order to help make or rule out this diagnosis. Note: This semi-structured interview is administered to all adult participants ages 18-85 years old. (References: Kessler, R. C., Green, J. G., Adler, L. A., Barkley, R. A., Chatterji, S., Faraone, S. V., . . . Van Brunt, D. L. (2010). Structure and diagnosis of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Analysis of expanded symptom criteria from the adult ADHD clinical diagnostic scale. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67(11), 1168-78.)
- Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS): The K-SADS is a semi-structured interview designed to assess current and past episodes of psychopathology in children and adolescents, according to DSM-IV criteria. Probes and objective criteria are provided to rate individual symptoms. Note: This semi-structured interview is administered to all child participants ages 6-17 years old. The interview is first completed with the guardian of the child and is then completed with the child in order to determine past and current diagnoses. (References: Kaufman, J., et al. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children-resent and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(7), 980-988).)
- Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders – Non-Patient Edition (SCID-I/NP): A diagnostic semi-structured interview designed to assess current and past episodes of psychopathology in adults, according to DSM-IV criteria. Probes and objective criteria are provided to rate individual symptoms. Note: This semi-structured interview is administered to all adult participants ages 18-85 years old. (References: First, M., B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J.B.W.: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders, Research Version, Non-patient edition (SCID-I/NP, 1/2010 revision). New York: Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute, November 2002.)
Medical History Questionnaire-Adult
This questionnaire is designed to get a detailed and comprehensive history of the participant’s medical and psychiatric history. Participants respond Yes or No to a list of possible medical issues, and for some are asked to specify type.
Note: This assessment is given to all adult participants, ages 18-85 years old.
References: Merikangas, K., project in development.
Medical History Questionnaire-Child
This questionnaire is designed to get a detailed and comprehensive history of the participant’s medical and psychiatric history. Parents are asked to respond Yes or No to a list of possible medical issues about their child, and for some are asked to specify type.
Note: This assessment is completed by guardians of child participants, ages 6-17 years old.
References: Merikangas, K., project in development.
Repetitive Behaviors Scale – Revised (RBS-R)
The RBS-R is a 44-item self-report questionnaire that is used to measure the breadth of repetitive behavior in children, adolescents, and adults with Autism Spectrum disorders. The RBS-R provides a quantitative, continuous measure of the full spectrum of repetitive behaviors. The RBS-R consists of six subscales including: Stereotyped Behavior, Self-injurious Behavior, Compulsive Behavior, Routine Behavior, Sameness Behavior, and Restricted Behavior, that have no overlap of item content. This permits differential identification and scoring of discrete varieties of repetitive behaviors. Participants are asked to read a list of behaviors and choose a score that best describes how much of a problem the behavior has been over the last month. Behaviors are rated on a 4-point scale: 0-Behavior does not occur, 1-Behavior occurs and is a mild problem, 2-Behavior occurs and is a moderate problem, 3-Behavior occurs and is a severe problem. On the last question, participants are asked to “lump together” all of the behaviors described in the questionnaire, and provide a rating for how much of a problem these repetitive behaviors are overall, on a scale from 1-100: 1-Not a problem at all, to 100-As bad as you can imagine.
Note: This assessment is given to guardians of children ages 6-17 years old.
References: Lam, K. S. L. and M. G. Aman (2007). The Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised: independent validation in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(5): 855-866.
Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) – Parent Report
The SRS is a 65-item parent-report for children and adolescents (ages 4-18) that measure the severity of Autism Spectrum symptoms as they occur in natural social settings. The SRS provides a clear picture of a child’s social impairments, assessing social awareness, social information processing, capacity for reciprocal social communication, social anxiety/avoidance, and autistic preoccupations and traits. Each item on the scale inquires about an observed aspect of reciprocity behavior. Behaviors are rated on a 4-point scale: 0-Not true, 1-Sometimes true, 2-Often true, 3-Almost always true. Higher scores on the SRS indicate higher degrees of social impairment.
Note: This assessment is given to guardians of child participants, 6-17 years old.
References: Constantino J.N. et. al, (2003). Validation of a brief quantitative measure of autistic traits: comparison of the social responsiveness scale with the autism diagnostic interview-revised. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33: 427-433.