Investigating the validation of the Chinese Mandarin version of the Social Responsiveness Scale in a Mainland China child population.
Researchers from several different countries have found the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) to have good psychometric properties. However, to our knowledge, no studies on this subject have been reported in Mainland China. In this study, we investigated the psychometric properties of the Chinese Mandarin version of the SRS when used in Mainland China.



The reliability and validity of the parent-report SRS in a sample of 749 children of 4- to 14-year-olds: 411 typically developing and 338 clinical participants (202 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)) were examined.



Internal consistency for total scale (0.871-0.922), test-retest reliability (0.81-0.94), and convergent validity with the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) (0.302-0.647) were satisfactory. The SRS total score discriminated between the ASD and other developmental disorders. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses revealed that the SRS was predicted to accurately classify 69.2-97.2% of youth ASD. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported a single-factor solution for the ASD subsample. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) did not confirm the theoretical construct of five factors model with inadequate fit in the ASD subsample.



Overall, our findings supported the reliability and validity of the parent-report SRS as one ASD screening instrument. In addition, we also suggest that the use of separate cut-offs for screening purposes (optimizing sensitivity) vs. clinical confirmation (optimizing specificity) should be considered.
Child Developmental-Behavioral Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No. 600, Tianhe Rd., Guangzhou, 510630, China.
Chao-Qun
CQ
Cen
Child Developmental-Behavioral Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No. 600, Tianhe Rd., Guangzhou, 510630, China.
Ya-Yong
YY
Liang
Department of Pediatrics, Huizhou First Hospital, NO.20, South Sanxin Rd., Huizhou, 516000, China.
Qiu-Ru
QR
Chen
Child Developmental-Behavioral Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No. 600, Tianhe Rd., Guangzhou, 510630, China.
Kai-Yun
KY
Chen
Child Developmental-Behavioral Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No. 600, Tianhe Rd., Guangzhou, 510630, China.
Hong-Zhu
HZ
Deng
Child Developmental-Behavioral Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No. 600, Tianhe Rd., Guangzhou, 510630, China.
Bi-Yuan
BY
Chen
Child Developmental-Behavioral Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, No. 600, Tianhe Rd., Guangzhou, 510630, China. zouxb@163.net.
Xiao-Bing
XB
Zou
D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014177:Translations
Autism spectrum disorder; Chinese version; Reliability; Social Responsiveness Scale; Validity