Assessing Autism in Adults: An Evaluation of the Developmental, Dimensional and Diagnostic Interview—Adult Version (3Di-Adult)

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 48; no. 2; pp. 549 - 560
• Main Authors: Mandy, William, Clarke, Kiri, McKenner, Michele, Strydom, Andre, Crabtree, Jason, Lai, Meng-Chuan, Allison, Carrie, Baron-Cohen, Simon, Skuse, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Algorithms; Analysis; Anxiety Disorders; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic Disorder - diagnosis; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Child Health; Clinical research; Comparative Analysis; Data Collection; Departments; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Diagnostic Tests; Eating Disorders; Female; Foreign Countries; Health Conditions; Humans; Intelligence Quotient; Interpersonal Relationship; Interrater Reliability; Interviews; Male; Medical diagnosis; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Predictive Validity; Psychiatry; Psychological Patterns; Psychology; Psychometrics; Public Health; Sensitivity and Specificity; Test Reliability; Test Theory; Test Validity; Validity; Young Adult; Young Children; United Kingdom; Adults; Autism spectrum conditions (ASC); Assessment and diagnosis; Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Diagnostic and statistical manual, fifth edition (DSM-5)
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3321-z

We developed a brief, informant-report interview for assessing autism spectrum conditions (ASC) in adults, called the Developmental, Dimensional and Diagnostic Interview-Adult Version (3Di-Adult); and completed a preliminary evaluation. Informant reports were collected for participants with ASC (n = 39), a non-clinical comparison group (n = 29) and a clinical comparison group (n = 20) who had non-autistic mental health conditions. Mean administration time was 38 min (50 min for ASC). Internal consistency (αs ≥ 0.93) and inter-rater agreement (ICCs ≥ 0.99) were high. When discriminating ASC from non-ASC, the 3Di-Adult showed excellent sensitivity (95%) and specificity (92%). The 3Di-Adult shows promise as a psychometrically sound and time-efficient interview for collecting standardised informant reports for DSM-5 assessments of ASC in adults, in research and clinical practice.