Background
Method
Participants
Sample | n | Age, mean ± SD, range | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Male | Female | Unknown | Total | ||
Phase II | |||||
ASDa,b | 31 | 22 | 5 | 58 | 33.7 ± 11.5, 16 to 70 |
ADHD | 16 | 23 | 4 | 43 | 37.0 ± 12.2, 19 to 64 |
Other psychiatric disordersc | 41 | 50 | 4 | 95 | 35.6 ± 12.4, 18 to 77 |
Mood disordersd | 17 | 13 | 1 | 31 | |
Anxiety disorderse | 11 | 22 | 1 | 34 | |
Psychotic disordersf | 11 | 7 | 2 | 20 | |
Borderline personality disorder | 8 | 19 | 1 | 28 | |
Non-psychiatric | 105 | 400 | 85 | 590 | 45.0 ± 10.9, 19 to 66 |
Phase III | |||||
ASDg | 32 | 43 | 2 | 77 | 35.2 ± 10.9, 16 to 58 |
ADHD | 11 | 162 | 28 | 301 | 32.6 ± 12.0, 17 to 68 |
Other psychiatric disorders | 23 | 45 | 1 | 69 | 32.8 ± 9.8, 18 to 57 |
Mood disorders | 9 | 19 | 28 | ||
Anxiety disorders | 7 | 26 | 33 | ||
Psychotic disorders | 5 | 5 | 10 | ||
Borderline personality disorder | 3 | 7 | 10 |
Materials
Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised
Procedure
Phase I
Phase II
Please choose one of the following alternatives: | |||||
This is true or describes me now and when I was young. | |||||
This was true or describes me only now (refers to skills acquired). | |||||
This was true only when I was young (16 years or younger). | |||||
This was never true and never described me. | |||||
Please answer the questions according to what is true for you. Check only one column per statement! | |||||
Some life experiences and personality characteristics that may apply to you | True now and when I was young | True only now | True only when I was younger than 16 | Never true | |
1 | It is difficult for me to understand how other people are feeling when we are talking | ||||
2 | Some ordinary textures that do not bother others feel very offensive when they touch my skin | ||||
3 | It is very difficult for me to work and function in groups | ||||
4 | It is difficult to figure out what other people expect of me | ||||
5 | I often don’t know how to act in social situations | ||||
6* | I can chat and make small talk with people | ||||
7 | When I feel overwhelmed by my senses, I have to isolate myself to shut them down | ||||
8 | How to make friends and socialize is a mystery to me | ||||
9 | When talking to someone, I have a hard time telling when it is my turn to talk or to listen | ||||
10 | Sometimes I have to cover my ears to block out painful noises (like vacuum cleaners or people talking too much or too loudly) | ||||
11 | It can be very hard to read someone’s face, hand, and body movements when we are talking | ||||
12 | I focus on details rather than the overall idea | ||||
13 | I take things too literally, so I often miss what people are trying to say | ||||
14 | I get extremely upset when the way I like to do things is suddenly changed |
Phase III
Statistics
Ethics approval
Results
Phase I: construction of a pilot version
Phase II: evaluation of an 18 item pilot version
Construct validity and reliability
RAADS-14 screen domain | Items | DSM-5 criteria | Original RAADS-R domain |
---|---|---|---|
Mentalizing deficits | 13. I take things too literally, so I often miss what people are trying to say | A1 | Language |
1. It is difficult for me to understand how other people are feeling when we are talking | A2 | Social relatedness | |
9. When talking to someone, I have a hard time telling when it is my turn to talk or to listen | A1 | Social relatedness | |
4. It is difficult to figure out what other people expect of me | A2 | Social relatedness | |
11. It can be very hard to read someone’s face, hand, and body movements when we are talking | A2 | Social relatedness | |
12. I focus on details rather than the overall idea | B3 | Circumscribed interests | |
14. I get extremely upset when the way I like to do things is suddenly changed | B2 | Circumscribed interests | |
Social anxiety | 3. It is very difficult for me to work and function in groups | A1 (A3) | Social relatedness |
5. I often don’t know how to act in social situations | A1 | Social relatedness | |
6. aI can chat and make small talk with people | A1 | Language | |
8. How to make friends and socialize is a mystery to me | A3 (A1) | Social relatedness | |
Sensory reactivity | 2. Some ordinary textures that do not bother others feel very offensive when they touch my skin | B4 | Sensory motor |
7. When I feel overwhelmed by my senses, I have to isolate myself to shut them down | B4 | Sensory motor | |
10. Sometimes I have to cover my ears to block out painful noises (like vacuum cleaners or people talking too much or too loudly) | B4 | Sensory motor |
Distribution of scores
Item selection for RAADS-14 Screen
Phase III: validation of psychometric properties of RAADS-14 Screen
Reliability and discriminatory powers of RAADS-14 Screen
Phase | n | Mean ± SD | RAADS-14 Screen score | Internal consistency, α | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median (range) | M-W U (z)a |
r
b
| F1c | F2d | F3e | RAADS-14 Screen | |||
Phase II | |||||||||
ASD | 58 | 27.9 ± 11.5 | 30 (0–42) | – | – | 0.84 | 0.67 | 0.63 | 0.88 |
ADHD | 43 | 17.5 ± 9.5 | 18 (1–36)f | 596.0 (-4.5) | 0.68 | 0.80 | 0.42 | 0.51 | 0.77 |
Other psychiatric disorders | 95 | 11.9 ± 8.3 | 12 (0–39)f | 772.5 (-7.5) | 0.57 | 0.75 | 0.54 | 0.57 | 0.78 |
Non-psychiatric controls | 590 | 3.9 ± 4.6 | 3 (0–29)f | 1528 (-11.6) | 0.48 | 0.65 | 0.32 | 0.53 | 0.70 |
Total sample | 792 | 7.4 ± 9.3 | 4 (0 – 42) | – | – | 0.86 | 0.64 | 0.76 | 0.90 |
Phase III | |||||||||
ASD | 77 | 30.8 ± 8.6 | 32 (8–42) | 0.75 | 0.62 | 0.62 | 0.80 | ||
ADHD | 301 | 15.4 ± 9.3 | 15 (0–42)f | 2824 (-10.3) | 0.59 | 0.73 | 0.49 | 0.62 | 0.79 |
Other psychiatric disorders | 69 | 12.6 ± 9.3 | 11 (0–39)f | 467.5 (-8.6) | 0.71 | 0.75 | 0.40 | 0.76 | 0.84 |
Total sample | 457 | 17.4 ± 11.0 | 16 (0 – 42) | – | 0.80 | 0.58 | 0.73 | 0.86 |
Comparison of RAADS-14 Screen scores between diagnostic groups
Gender differences
Samplea | Sex | n | RAADS-14-Screen | Mentalizing deficits | Social anxiety | Sensory reactivity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median (range) | ||||||
Non-psychiatric | M | 105 | 3 (0 to 19) | 1 (0 to 13)b | 1 (0 to 8)c | 0 (0 to 6) |
F | 400 | 2.5 (0 to 29) | 0 (0 to 19) | 0 (0 to 10) | 0 (0 to 9)b | |
ASD | M | 64 | 30 (0 to 42) | 15 (0 to 21) | 9.7 (0 to 12) | 6 (0 to 9) |
F | 66 | 34 (9 to 42) | 18 (3 to 21) | 9 (0 to 12) | 8 (3–9)d | |
ADHD | M | 127 | 15 (0 to 36) | 7 (0 to 21) | 3 (0 to 12) | 3 (0 to 9) |
F | 185 | 15 (0 to 42) | 8 (0 to 21) | 3 (0 to 12) | 3 (0 to 9)d | |
Other psychiatric disorders | M | 64 | 11.5 (0 to 33) | 4 (0 to 21) | 4 (0 to 11) | 2 (0 to 9) |
F | 95 | 12 (0 to 39) | 5 (0 to 21) | 2 (0 to 12) | 3 (0 to 9) |