Comparing Diagnostic Outcomes of Autism Spectrum Disorder Using DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 Criteria

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 1437 - 1450
• Main Authors: Harstad, Elizabeth B., Fogler, Jason, Sideridis, Georgios, Weas, Sarah, Mauras, Carrie, Barbaresi, William J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.05.2015; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Age Differences; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Behavior Patterns; Behavior Problems; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Check Lists; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - diagnosis; Child, Preschool; Children; Clinical Diagnosis; Cognitive Ability; Communication Problems; Comparative analysis; Criteria; Diagnosis; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Etiology; Factor Analysis; Factor Structure; Female; Gender; Gender Differences; Goodness of Fit; Humans; Infant; Intelligence Quotient; Intelligence tests; Interpersonal Competence; Interpersonal Relationship; Male; Measurement; Mental Disorders; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Predictive Value of Tests; Psychiatry; Psychodiagnostics; Psychological Patterns; Psychology; Psychometrics; Public Health; Quantitative psychology; Repetitive behaviour; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Test Validity; Toddlers; Young Children; Confirmatory factor analysis; Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Measurement invariance; -
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2306-4

Controversy exists regarding the DSM - 5 criteria for ASD. This study tested the psychometric properties of the DSM - 5 model and determined how well it performed across different gender, IQ, and DSM - IV - TR sub-type, using clinically collected data on 227 subjects (median age = 3.95 years, majority had IQ > 70). DSM - 5 was psychometrically superior to the DSM - IV - TR model (Comparative Fit Index of 0.970 vs 0.879, respectively). Measurement invariance revealed good model fit across gender and IQ. Younger children tended to meet fewer diagnostic criteria. Those with autistic disorder were more likely to meet social communication and repetitive behaviors criteria ( p  < .001) than those with PDD-NOS. DSM - 5 is a robust model but will identify a different, albeit overlapping population of individuals compared to DSM - IV - TR .