Pervasive developmental disorders rating scale: development and construct validity.

The Pervasive Developmental Disorders Rating Scale was designed for use in screening of pervasive developmental disorders. This paper describes the rationale and development of the scale and assesses its construct validity with ratings from a sample of 362 children ranging in age from 1 to 12 years and diagnosed with autistic disorder. The hypothesized heirarchical factor model and two competing models were examined through confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis supported the factor structure of the hypothesized model in this particular sample of children with autistic disorder. Limitations and areas for research are discussed.