The currect Editorial aims at summarizing the topics discusse by the published papers in this Research Topic on measures for screening and assessment fo Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). “Psychometrics in psychiatry 2022: autism” is an interesting project that has adopted a scientific point of view with important implications for research and clinical practice. Five contributions are included in this Research Topic from different cultural backgrounds, i.e., Iran, the United States (two papers), Japan, Kenya, and the United Kingdom. Worldwide, the articles involved 38 authors and 11 expert reviewers working in the field of ASD and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Overall, the prevalence of ASD (1) encourages the design of studies to validate tools for assessing autism and its related difficulties. Systematic reviews (2–4) have highlighted the promising psychometric properties of existing screening measures that have been applied in different Western cultures (e.g., 5–9). Unfortunately, screening efforts are lacking on continents such as Africa. The contribution by Kipkemoi et al. on Kenyan children aged 6–9 years, aims to develop an interview to identify and diagnose autism.
The study by Wada et al. developed an easy and user-friendly tool to assess sensory issues in autism. This feature is also common to other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; 10) and specific learning disorder (SLD; 11). Qualitative and quantitative analyses of this novel tool with 6-70-year-old individuals showed successful preliminary outcomes, highlighting the importance of evaluating this autism-related difficulty during the diagnostic procedure.
In addition, this Research Topic includes studies that validate measures that not only reflect the two main core diagnostic criteria for autism (i.e., social/communicative difficulties; the presence of restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors), but also assess autism-related difficulties that negatively impact the individual with ASD and his or her family and, as a result, require targeted and meaningful interventions (12). The study by Mohammadi et al. validated a measure evaluating mental health and problem/risky behaviors in children and young individuals with ASD; the study by Uljarević et al. developed and validated a tool examining daily living skills. More specifically, the study by Mohammadi et al. examined the psychometric validity of the Assessment of Concerning Behavior (ACB) in the Iranian population revealing a good factor structure and supporting the comorbidity with internalizing (intrapersonal) and externalizing (interpersonal) problems, which are two key areas to monitor to promote the well-being of individuals (13). The study by Uljarević et al. aimed to develop and validate a novel open-source and low-cost measure that assesses daily living skills (in the form of personal, household, and community skills) in children and adolescents from 2 to 17 years old. The findings reported the he measure’s excellent potential for adoption in research and clinical settings.
Finally, the work submitted by Smith et al. analyzed the psychometric properties of an interview designed to assess work skills in young adults with ASD. The investigated measure has relevant research and clinical implications, in an increasingly current perspective in which employment is a key factor for a good quality of life (14), especially during the transition to young adulthood (16–26 years old; 15).
In conclusion, the Editors are grateful to all the Authors for submitting their work, and to the Reviewers for dedicating their time to improving the quality of the published manuscripts.
Author contributions
FL: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. AN: Writing – review & editing.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
- 1. Smith JV, Menezes M, Brunt S, Pappagianopoulos J, Sadikova E, Mazurek MO. Understanding autism diagnosis in primary care: Rates of diagnosis from 2004 to 2019 and child age at diagnosis. Autism. (2024) 0(0), 13623613241236112. doi: 10.1177/13623613241236112 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2. Petrocchi S, Levante A, Lecciso F. A systematic review of level 1 and level 2 screening tools for autism spectrum disorders in toddlers. Brain Sci. (2020) 10:180. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10030180 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3. Salgado-Cacho JM, Moreno-Jiménez MDP, de Diego-Otero Y. Detection of early warning signs in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review. Children. (2021) 8:164. doi: 10.3390/children8020164 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4. Wallis KE, Guthrie W. Screening for autism: A review of the current state, ongoing challenges, and novel approaches on the horizon. Pediatr Clinics. (2024) 71(2):127–55. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2023.12.003 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5. Lecciso F, Levante A, Signore F, Petrocchi S. Preliminary evidence of the Structural Validity and measurement invariance of the Quantitative-CHecklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) on Italian unselected children. Electronic J Appl Stat Anal. (2019) 12:320–40. doi: 10.1285/i20705948v12n2p320 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 6. Levante A, Petrocchi S, Lecciso F. The criterion validity of the first year inventory and the quantitative-CHecklist for autism in toddlers: a longitudinal study. Brain Sci. (2020) 10:729. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10100729 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7. Levante A, Petrocchi S, Massagli A, Filograna MR, De Giorgi S, Lecciso F. Early screening of the autism spectrum disorders: Validity properties and cross-cultural generalizability of the first year inventory in Italy. Brain Sci. (2020) 10:108. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10020108 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8. Levante A, Petrocchi S, Lecciso F. Test-retest Reliability and Measurement Invariance across time of the Quantitative-CHecklist for Autism in Toddlers. Electronic J Appl Stat Anal. (2021) 14:146–66. doi: 10.1285/i20705948v14n1p146 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 9. Canal-Bedia R, García-Primo P, Martín-Cilleros MV, Santos-Borbujo J, Guisuraga-Fernández Z, Herráez-García L, et al. Modified checklist for autism in toddlers: cross-cultural adaptation and validation in Spain. J Autism Dev Disord. (2011) 41:1342–51. doi: 10.1007/s10803-010-1163-z [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10. Fabio RA, Orsino C, Lecciso F, Levante A, Suriano R. Atypical sensory processing in adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A comparative study. Res Dev Disabil. (2024) 146:104674. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104674 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11. Hussein Z, Abdel-Aty S, Elmeniawey G. Sensory-based motor processing in children with specific learning disabilities. Physiotherapy Q. (2023) 31:95–9. doi: 10.5114/pq.2023.115855 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 12. Colombi C, Chericoni N, Bargagna S, Costanzo V, Devescovi R, Lecciso F, et al. Case report: Preemptive intervention for an infant with early signs of autism spectrum disorder during the first year of life. Front Psychiatry. (2023) 14:1105253. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1105253 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 13. Bianco F, Levante A, Petrocchi S, Lecciso F, Castelli I. Maternal psychological distress and children’s internalizing/externalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: The moderating role played by hypermentalization. Int J Environ Res Public Health. (2021) 18:10450. doi: 10.3390/ijerph181910450 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 14. Ingusci E, Signore F, Ortiz-Bonnin S, Giaccari M, Malerba F, Martino P, et al. Disability as a job resource: The role of job crafting and organizational citizenship behaviours. Towards an approach to value diversity in organizations. Bollettino di psicologia applicata. (2022) 80:1–11. doi: 10.26387/bpa.2022.00010 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 15. Hayslip B, Jr., Neumann CS, Louden L, Chapman B. Developmental stage theories. Compr Handb Pers Psychopathol. (2006) 1:115–41. [Google Scholar]