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

Hollocks, Matthew, Casson, Roland, White, Clare, Dobson, Jess, Beazley, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8821-1213 and Humphrey, Ayla (2019) 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. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49 (6). pp. 2618-2623. ISSN 0162-3257

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Abstract

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

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 16 May 2019 07:30
Last Modified: 21 Oct 2022 22:35
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/71009
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-03982-6

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