The Construct Validity of the Childhood Joint Attention Rating Scale (C-JARS) in School-Aged Autistic Children

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2024-09, Vol.54 (9), p.3347-3363
• Main Authors: Birkeneder, Sandy L., Bullen, Jennifer, McIntyre, Nancy, Zajic, Matthew C., Lerro, Lindsay, Solomon, Marjorie, Sparapani, Nicole, Mundy, Peter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Attention - physiology; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Autistic adolescents; Autistic children; Autistic Disorder - diagnosis; Autistic Disorder - psychology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child; Child and School Psychology; Childhood; Children; Cognitive ability; Comorbidity; Construct Validity; Female; Humans; Intellectual disabilities; Intellectual Disability - diagnosis; Intellectual Disability - psychology; Intelligence tests; Joint attention; Male; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Phenotypes; Preschool children; Prosocial behavior; Psychology; Public Health; Rating Scales; Ratings & rankings; Reproducibility of Results; Sex differences; Social Behavior; Validity
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06051-1

Preliminary evidence from the Childhood Joint Attention Rating Scale (C-JARS; Mundy et al., 2017 ) suggests symptoms related to diminished joint attention and the spontaneous sharing of experience with others can be assessed with a parent-report measure in children and adolescents with autism. This study was designed to expand on the previous study by examining the validity of both a Social Symptom (SS) and a Prosocial (PS) scale of the C-JARS in a study of school-aged autistic children ( n   = 89) with and without co-occurring intellectual disability (ID), as well as an age matched neurotypical sample ( n   = 62). Results indicated that both C-JARS scales were sensitive and specific with respect to identifying the diagnostic status of the children. In addition, the PS scale was sensitive to differences in cognitive abilities (IQ) and sex differences in the autism group. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that joint attention and spontaneous sharing of experience symptoms are not only characteristic of preschool children with autism but may also constitute a developmentally continuous dimension of the social phenotype of autism that can be measured in school-aged children.