1. Differential Performance of Social Communication Questionnaire Items in African American/Black vs. White Children.
- Author
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Dahl, Ethan, Moody, Eric J., Barger, Brian, Rosenberg, Steven, DiGuiseppi, Carolyn, Fallin, M. Daniele, Lee, Li-Ching, and Wiggins, Lisa
- Subjects
DIAGNOSIS of autism ,DIFFERENTIAL item functioning (Research bias) ,AFRICAN Americans ,RESEARCH funding ,INTERVIEWING ,SAMPLE size (Statistics) ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,LOGISTIC regression analysis ,WHITE people ,CHI-squared test ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,RACE ,ODDS ratio ,SOCIAL skills ,COMMUNICATION ,PSYCHOMETRICS ,MEDICAL screening ,DELAYED diagnosis ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,DATA analysis software ,SENSITIVITY & specificity (Statistics) ,CHILDREN - Abstract
Screening for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an essential early step in the identification process and inaccurate screening may lead to significant delays in the onset of treatment. Past research has highlighted discrepancies in the performance of ASD screening tools such as the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) among certain racial and ethnic groups. The current study explored the functioning of the SCQ among African American/Black and White respondents based on item level performance on the measure. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses showed that 16 (41%) items of the SCQ functioned differently for African American/Black respondents when compared to White respondents. Implications, such as the potential for delayed diagnosis and treatment, and the influence on downstream outcomes, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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