Background: Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a significant socio-biological problem due to its wide prevalence and negative outcomes. In the current study, we aimed to develop an autism scale for early and accurate differentiation of 3- to 4-year-olds at risk for ASD since there is no systematic monitoring of young children in Russia yet. Methods: The total sample (N = 324) included 116 children with ASD, 131 children without ASD (healthy controls), and 77 children with developmental delay (DD). An online survey of specialists working with children was conducted based on a specially designed autism questionnaire consisting of 85 multiple-choice tasks distributed across 12 domains. Initially, each child was assessed by 434 items using a dichotomous scale (0 = no, 1 = yes). Factor and discriminant analyses were performed to identify a compact set of subscales that most accurately and with sufficient reliability predicted whether a child belongs to the ASD group. Results: As a result, four subscales were obtained: Sensorics, Emotions, Hyperactivity, and Communication. The high discriminability of the subscales in distinguishing the ASD group from the non-ASD group was revealed (accuracy 85.5–87.0%). Overall, the obtained subscales meet psychometric requirements and allow for creating an online screening system for wide application.

Background: computer-based screenings are usually used for early detection of a child’s mental development problems. However, there are no such screenings in Russia yet. This study aimed to elaborate scales for rapid monitoring of mental development of 3-year-olds. Methods: 863 children took part in the study, among them 814 children of the group Norm, 49 children with developmental delay (DD), including 23 children with symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). The multifactor study of mental development tool was used as a part of a software complex for longitudinal research for data collection. This study used a set of 233 tasks that were adequate for 3-year-olds. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used for the elaboration and factor validation of the scales. The structure of the relationship between scales and age was refined using structural equation modeling. Results: as a result of the research, screening scales were elaborated: “Logical reasoning”, “Motor skills”, “General awareness”, “Executive functions”. The factor validity and reliability of scales were proved. The high discriminability of the scales in distinguishing the “Norm” and “DD” samples was revealed. The developed test norms take into account the child’s age in days and allow identifying a “risk group” with an expected forecast accuracy of at least 90%. The obtained scales meet psychometric requirements for their application and allow creating an online screening system for wide application.

The study aims to reveal autism vectors that are inherent in 3-4-year-olds with ASD. Three hundred eighty-three children with ASD took part in the research. An online questionnaire developed earlier by our research group was used. In the first stage, with the repeated use of exploratory factor analysis, the task of identifying the simplest factor structure was solved. As a result, a 7-factor system was obtained, including from 9 to 14 items in each factor (78 items in total): 1) "Persistence on sameness" (Sam); 2) "Emotional dysregulation" (Em); 3) "Alienation" (Al); 4) "Speech understanding" (SU); 5) "Disinhibition/Hyperactivity" (Hyp); 6) "Echolalia" (Ech); 7) "Sensory disintegration" (Sen). Next, a "parcel approach" was applied: binary items included in each factor were randomly distributed into 3 packages, from 3 to 5 items in each box. Thus, instead of 78 binary things, 21 quantitative variables were analyzed. At the second stage, a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was applied to verify the factor validity and structural and measurement equivalence of the obtained 7-factor model to the parts of the sample that differ by gender (m, f) and age (3 and 4 years). The factor validity of the 7-factor model was confirmed: the factors Em, Al, Su, and Ech correlated with each other (correlations from 0.33 to 0.65), forming a group of communication disorders, the second group consisted of factors Sam and Sen (r = 0.66), the factor Hyp did not correlate with other elements. The equivalence of this 7-factor model was confirmed with respect to samples differing in gender (m, f) and age (3 and 4 years). According to all 7 calculated factors-scales, the example of children with ASD statistically significantly differed from other children with the magnitude of the Coen's d effect from 0.688 to 2.088. However, it can be supposed that the factor dimension of autism symptoms can be even more significant, because the revealed structure is based on 436 initial hypothetical symptoms of autism.

A. D. Nasledov, S. A. Miroshnikov, L. O. Tkacheva. (2018). Elaboration of Screening Scales for Early Diagnosis of Developmental Delay in Four- to Five-Year-Old Children in Russia. Established in 2008, the Russian Psychological Society's Journal «Psychology in Russia: State of the Art» publishes original articles.

The work identifies the factor structure of autism symptoms in older preschoolers to check their age dynamics. An Autism Marker Questionnaire containing 330 potential symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was developed to be implemented as an online survey. 501 children were examined (371 with ASD) already classified by experts as a group of ASD, typically developing (TD) or with developmental delay (DD). At the exploratory stage, a relatively simple 8-factor structure was obtained: Speech Understanding (SU), Emotions (Em), Persistence on Sameness (Sam), Hyperactivity/Disinhibition (Hyp), Sensory disintegration (Sen), Echolalia (Ech). Each factor formed a sufficiently reliable scale in terms of internal consistency. Logistic regression demonstrated high accuracy in dividing children into groups with and without ASD. The model for confirmatory analysis included eight primary factors and 3 secondary factors: 1) Communication disorders, COM (SU, Em, Emp, Ech), 2) Sensory disintegration, SD (SD, PS, Ech), 3) Praxis impairment, PI (Hyp, Mot). The multigroup confirmatory analysis confirmed the equivalence of the model for boys and girls, as well as 5- and 6-year-old children. The factors obtained can be considered as key autistic symptoms for this age group and can shed some light on our theoretical understanding of the autistic symptoms age dynamics in preschoolers.