Item Analysis of an Early Social Responsiveness Scale for Assessing Autism Risk Open Access

Abstract

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is vital for effective intervention and improves long term social and behavioral development. Previous literature has shown that the Early Social Responsiveness (ESR) assessment is effective at detecting ASD risk as early as 13 months (Factor et. al, 2021). However, an item analysis that examines individual scores has not been conducted. In this study, I have analyzed an existing data set containing the individual item responses from the ESR assessment of 120 children (n=61 males, n=59 females; age range= 15-24 months; Factor et. al, 2021). By using item analysis, we determined which ESR items, or item sets, were best at differentiating ASD risk from non-ASD risk. Ease of social engagement measures performed most effectively, scoring the highest in the item discrimination, item discrimination index, and item reliability index analyses. The hat and tickle activities performed the least effectively, with only the ease of social engagement ratings in their respective sections scoring among the highest value items across analyses. The item analysis results may allow the assessment to be shortened which may increase the likelihood of clinical adoption, allowing for earlier intervention and diagnosis.  

Table of Contents

Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Methods-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

Table 1 Demographic Information for the Community Subset Sample----------------------------------------7

Results--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics for the Items in the ESR Assessment-------------------------------------------11

Table 3 Item Analysis Results for Items in the ESR Assessment-----------------------------------------------13

Table 4 Item Statistics of the Item Reliability Analysis for the Items in the ESR Assessment------------------15

Discussion-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16

References-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20

Appendix A. The Early Social Responsiveness Scale-----------------------------------------------------------26

Appendix B. R Codes------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------29

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Subfield / Discipline	Cognition and Development
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Developmental
Keyword	social engagement autism
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Opal Ousley, Emory University Elaine Walker, Emory University
Committee Members	Harold Gouzoules, Emory University Susan Tamasi, Emory University

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