title: The sensitivity and specificity of the social communication questionnaire for autism spectrum with respect to age.
abstract: The age neutrality of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was examined as a common screener for ASD. Mixed findings have been reported regarding the recommended cutoff score's ability to accurately classify an individual as at-risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (sensitivity) versus accurately classifying an individual as not at-risk for ASD (specificity). With a sample from the National Database for Autism Research, this study examined the SCQ's sensitivity versus specificity. Analyses indicated that the actual sensitivity and specificity scores were lower than initially reported by the creators of the SCQ. Autism Res 2016, 9: 838-845. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Texas Tech University, P.O. Box 41071, Lubbock, Texas, 79409.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barnard-Brak
authors.affiliation: Texas Tech University College of Education, P.O. Box 41071, Lubbock, Texas, 79409.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.affiliation: Texas Tech University College of Education, P.O. Box 41071, Lubbock, Texas, 79409.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chesnut
authors.affiliation: Texas Tech University, P.O. Box 41071, Lubbock, Texas, 79409.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Richman
authors.affiliation: Texas Tech University College of Education, P.O. Box 41071, Lubbock, Texas, 79409.
authors.forename: Anna Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Schaeffer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: National Database for Autism Research; Social Communication Questionnaire; assessment; autism-spectrum disorders; receiver operating characteristic curve; screener; sensitivity; specificity