Journal Article

Development and Psychometric Properties of a New Questionnaire to Assess Mental Health and Concerning Behaviors in Children and Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): The Assessment of Concerning Behavior (ACB) Scale

Simonoff, Emily, Heaney, Natalie, Vitoratou, Silia, Gibbons, Felicity, Santosh, Paramala, Fiori, Federico, Ramasubramanian, Lakshmi, Absoud, Michael, Tarver, Joanne, Mastroianni, Mathilde, Bennett, Eleanor

2021

Overview

Although 70% of autistic children and young people meet criteria for co-occurring psychiatric conditions, there are few screening measures specifically for autistic individuals. We describe the development and validation of the Assessment of Concerning Behavior (ACB), an instrument co-developed with the autistic community to assess mental health and problematic/risky behaviors. Items include descriptions to facilitate symptom recognition by autistic people, and carers/professionals. The ACB was completed by 255 parents, 149 autistic children and young people and 30 teachers. Internal consistency, stability and validity was assessed. The ACB parent-version fit a two-factor model (internalizing and externalizing problems) and showed adequate test–retest reliability, internal consistency and construct validity. The ACB is a promising new measure for research and clinical use in autism.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adolescent / Adolescents / Adult / Autism / Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis / Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology / Autism Spectrum Disorders / Autistic children / Behavior / Behavior problems / Behavior Rating Scale / Behavior Rating Scales / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Caregivers - psychology / Check Lists / Child / Child and School Psychology / Child Behavior / Child development / Child Health / Children / Clinical Diagnosis / Clinical research / College Science / Communication Skills / Comorbidity / Construct Validity / Departments / Developmental Disabilities / Emotional Problems / Evaluation / Externalizing problems / Female / Health behavior / Health Conditions / Humans / Hyperactivity / Internalization / Internalizing disorders / Male / Measures / Medical screening / Mental disorders / Mental Health / Mental Health - trends / Neurosciences / Original Paper / Outcome Measures / Parent-child relations / Parents / Parents & parenting / Parents - psychology / Pediatrics / Pervasive Developmental Disorders / Pharmacology / Physical Health / Problem Behavior - psychology / Property / Psychiatry / Psychology / Psychometrics / Psychometrics - methods / Public Health / Quantitative psychology / Questionnaires / Reliability / Reproducibility of Results / Risk taking / Social Behavior / Surveys and Questionnaires / Teachers / Test Construction / Test Reliability / Test Validity / Test validity and reliability / Validity / Young Adult / Youth