1,2Elena PREDESCU*, 2Roxana ȘIPOS, 1Anca DOBREAN, 2Ioana MICLUȚIA
1Babeș Bolyai University, Cluj Napoca, Romania
2Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj Napoca, Romania
Abstract
We assessed the capacity of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) 1.5-5 DSM-oriented scales to discriminate children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from children with other clinical disorders: attention deficit and/or hyperkinesia disorder (ADHD), developmental delay. Data were collected from 233 children aged 1.5-5 years divided into 4 groups (ASD, ADHD, developmental delay, healthy control subjects). The CBCL 1.5-5 was completed by the caregivers. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA), Scheffe posthoc, and multiple logistic regression to test performance differences in the five scales between the four groups of subjects included in the study. Scores on the pervasive developmental problems scale differentiate the ASD group from the ADHD group, and the control group, but there are no significant performance differences for this scale between the ASD group and the developmental delay group. The pervasive developmental problems scale demonstrated a significantly better discriminative performance than a random test, with a sensitivity range between 67.96 and 96.12 and specificity range between 67.65 and 88.57. Consistent with previous research, the results confirm the scale effectiveness as a screening tool for the various emotional and behavioral problems associated with ASD, ADHD or developmental delay diagnosis.
Keywords: CBCL 1.5-5, autism spectrum disorders, other clinical disorders
