Identifier

etd-04102008-110918

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by deficits in three areas of functioning: communication, socialization, and restricted interests/repetitive behavior. With the rise in diagnoses of ASD in recent years, these disorders have received increasing recognition by researchers and clinicians. These efforts have largely been with young children. However, the study of ASD and comorbid disorders in adults with intellectual disability (ID) has been almost nonexistent. While there are measures available to assess comorbid disorders in people with only ID, the differences in adults with ASD and ID and adults with ID alone may also be a good deal different than in children, and therefore warrants a specialized scale to measure symptoms of ASD in this population. Through research, it is recognized that persons with ASD and ID often evince concomitant psychopathology; yet, the topic has not been systematically studied. The Autism Spectrum Disorders-Comorbidity for Adults (ASD-CA) was designed to screen symptoms of psychopathology that occur more commonly with ASD/ID in adults. The objective of this study was to assess the reliability of the ASD-CA in a first attempt to establish the test’s psychometric properties. Three forms of reliability (inter-rater, test-retest, and internal consistency), item analysis, and a factor analysis were conducted.

Date

2008

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Johnny L. Matson

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.290

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