Ruta Liliana, Chiarotti Flavia, Arduino Giuseppe Maurizio, Apicella Fabio, Leonardi Elisa, Maggio Roberta, Carrozza Cristina, Chericoni Natasha, Costanzo Valeria, Turco Nazarena, Tartarisco Gennaro, Gagliano Antonella, Allison Carrie, Baron Cohen Simon, Pioggia Giovanni, Muratori Filippo
Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation, National Research Council of Italy, Messina, Italy.
Department of Developmental Neuroscience, Stella Maris Scientific Institute, Pisa, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2019 Jul 17;10:488. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00488. eCollection 2019.
The Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) is parent-report screening questionnaire for detecting threshold and sub-threshold autistic features in toddlers. The Q-CHAT is a dimensional measure normally distributed in the general population sample and is able to differentiate between a group of children with a diagnosis of autism and unselected toddlers. We aim to investigate the psychometric properties, score distribution, and external validity of the Q-CHAT in an Italian clinical sample of young children with autism versus children with developmental delay and typically developing children. N = 126 typically developing children (TD), n = 139 children with autism, and n = 50 children presenting developmental delay (DD) were administered the Q-CHAT. Standardized measures of cognitive functions, language, and behaviors were also obtained. The Q-CHAT scores were normally distributed and demonstrated adequate internal consistency and good item to total score correlations. The mean Q-CHAT score in the autism group was significantly higher than those found in the DD sample and TD children. No difference on the mean Q-CHAT score between DD and TD children was found. The accuracy of the Q-CHAT to discriminate between autism and TD was very good. Two different cut-points (27 and 31, respectively) maximized sensitivity and specificity for autism versus TD and DD, respectively. Finally, higher Q-CHAT scores were correlated with lower language and social communication skills. In clinical settings, the Q-CHAT demonstrated good psychometric properties and external validity to discriminate autism children not just from children with typical development but also from children with developmental delay.
幼儿自闭症量化检查表（Q-CHAT）是一份由家长报告的筛查问卷，用于检测幼儿的临界及亚临界自闭症特征。Q-CHAT是一种维度测量工具，在一般人群样本中呈正态分布，能够区分一组自闭症诊断儿童和未经过筛选的幼儿。我们旨在研究Q-CHAT在意大利自闭症幼儿临床样本与发育迟缓儿童及发育正常儿童中的心理测量特性、分数分布和外部效度。对126名发育正常儿童（TD）、139名自闭症儿童和50名发育迟缓（DD）儿童进行了Q-CHAT测试。还获得了认知功能、语言和行为的标准化测量结果。Q-CHAT分数呈正态分布，具有足够的内部一致性，且各项目与总分的相关性良好。自闭症组的Q-CHAT平均得分显著高于发育迟缓样本组和发育正常儿童。发育迟缓儿童和发育正常儿童的Q-CHAT平均得分没有差异。Q-CHAT区分自闭症和发育正常儿童的准确性非常好。两个不同的切点（分别为27和31）分别使自闭症与发育正常儿童及发育迟缓儿童对比的敏感性和特异性最大化。最后，较高的Q-CHAT分数与较低的语言和社交沟通技能相关。在临床环境中，Q-CHAT表现出良好的心理测量特性和外部效度，不仅能区分自闭症儿童与发育正常儿童，还能区分自闭症儿童与发育迟缓儿童。
