Abstract
The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was factor analyzed. Three factors emerged: Social Impairment (SI), Negative Emotionality (NE), and Distorted Sensory Response (DSR). Unit-weight factor scales showed moderates-to-good internal consistency. Cross-sectional analyses demonstrated that autistic (AUT) subjects were distinguished from subjects with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and nonpervasive developmental disorders (NPDD) by higher scores on SI. An SI cutoff score of 26 classified individuals as autistic vs. nonautistic with 78% accuracy. Longitudinal analyses showed that DSR was stable over 6 months of treatment, with little indication of symptom reduction. SI decreased over time across the diagnostic groups, but still showed significant continuity over the period. NE was most malleable and apparently sensitive to the effects of treatment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (1980).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association (1987).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington DC: Author.
Baron-Cohen, S. (1988). Social and pragmatic deficits in autism: Cognitive or affective?Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 379–402.
Bartko, J. J. (1966). The intraclass correlation coefficient as a measure of reliability.Psychological Reports, 19, 3–11.
Bartko, J. J., & Carpenter, W. T. (1976). On the methods and theory of reliability.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 163, 307–317.
Bayley, N. (1969).Bayley Scales of Infant Development. New York: Psychological Corp.
Cattell, R. B. (1966). The Scree test for the number of factors.Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 245–276.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests.Psychometrika, 16, 297–334.
Fewell, R. R., & Sandall, S. R. (1986). Developmental testing of handicapped infants.Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 6, 86–100.
Garfin, D. G., McCallon, D., & Cox, R. (1988). Validity and reliability of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale with autistic adolescents.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 367–378.
Hobson, R. P. (1989). On sharing experiences.Development and Psychopathology, 1, 197–203.
Kaiser, H. F. (1960). The application of electronic computers to factor analysis.Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 141–151.
Kurita, H., Miyake, Y., & Katsuno, K. (1989). Reliability and Validity of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale—Tokyo version (CARS-TV).Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 389–396.
Leiter, R. G. (1979).Leiter International Performance Scale. Chicago: Stoelting.
Mesibov, G. B., Schopler, E., Schaffer, B., & Michal, N. (1989). Use of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale with autistic adolescents and adults.Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 538–541.
Morgan, S. (1988). Diagnostic assessment of autism: A review of objective scales.Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 6, 139–151.
Norusis, M. J., & SPSS, Inc. (1988).SPSS/PC+ for the IBM PC/XT/AT, (ver. 3.0). Chicago: SPSS, Inc.
Mundy, P., & Sigman, M. (1989). The theoretical implications of joint attention deficits in autism.Development and Psychopathology, 1, 173–183.
Rogers, S. J., & Lewis, H. (1989). An effective day treatment model for young children with pervasive developmental disorders.Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 207–214.
Rogers, S. J., & DiLalla, D. L. (1991). A comparative study of the effects of a developmentally based instructional model on young children with autism and young children with other disorders of behavior and development.Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 11, 29–47.
Rogers, S. J., & Pennington, B. (1991). A theoretical approach to the deficits in infantile autism.Development and Psychopathology, 3, 137–162.
Schafer, E. S., & Moersch, M. S. (Eds.). (1981)Developmental programming for infants and young children. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Schopler, E., Reichler, R., DeViellis, R., & Daly, K. (1980). Toward objective classification of childhood autism: Childhood autism rating scale (CARS).Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10, 91–103.
Schopler, E., Reichler, R., & Renner, B. (1988).The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological.
Stutsman, R. (1948).The Merrill-Palmer scale of mental tests. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Teal, M. B., & Wiebe, M. J. (1986). A validity analysis of selected instruments used to assess autism.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 16, 485–494.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The treatment program described in this article was supported by Grant No. G0081100247 to Sally Rogers from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation, U.S. Department of Education. The research was also supported in part by an award to Sally Rogers from the Developmental Psychobiology Research Group Endowment Fund provided by the Grant Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DiLalla, D.L., Rogers, S.J. Domains of the childhood autism rating scale: Relevance for diagnosis and treatment. J Autism Dev Disord 24, 115–128 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172092
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172092