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Validation of a Brief Quantitative Measure of Autistic Traits: Comparison of the Social Responsiveness Scale with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised

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Abstract

Studies of the broader autism phenotype, and of subtle changes in autism symptoms over time, have been compromised by a lack of established quantitative assessment tools. The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS—formerly known as the Social Reciprocity Scale) is a new instrument that can be completed by parents and/or teachers in 15–20 minutes. We compared the SRS with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) in 61 child psychiatric patients. Correlations between SRS scores and ADI-R algorithm scores for DSM-IV criterion sets were on the order of 0.7. SRS scores were unrelated to I.Q. and exhibited inter-rater reliability on the order of 0.8. The SRS is a valid quantitative measure of autistic traits, feasible for use in clinical settings and for large-scale research studies of autism spectrum conditions.

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Correspondence to John N. Constantino.

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Constantino, J.N., Davis, S.A., Todd, R.D. et al. Validation of a Brief Quantitative Measure of Autistic Traits: Comparison of the Social Responsiveness Scale with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. J Autism Dev Disord 33, 427–433 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025014929212

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025014929212

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