Validation of the developmental, dimensional and diagnostic interview -short version (3Di-sv) for diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in Chinese children

• Published in: Asian journal of psychiatry 2023-10, Vol.88, p.103733-103733, Article 103733
• Main Authors: Chen, Hong-Bei, Warrington, Richard, Mandy, William, Yang, Fan, Tang, Yi, Yang, Jing-Jing, Li, Ai, Lin, Yong-Qiang, Xu, Ming-Zhi, Jia, Fu-Jun, Hou, Cai-Lan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Autism; Autism spectrum disorders; Diagnosis; The developmental dimensional diagnostic interview-short version
• ISSN: 1876-2018; 1876-2026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103733

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric features of the Chinese version of the developmental dimensional diagnostic interview-short version (3Di-sv). A total sample of 138 children including 79 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 59 typically developing children completed the 3Di-sv interview. The Chinese version of the 3Di-sv has a good internal consistency (0.94). Test–retest analysis confirmed the instrument’s time stability (0.89). The instrument’s concurrent validity with the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and clinical diagnosis was verified; the correlation between total scores was 0.72, 0.82 and 0.90, respectively. The 3Di-sv significantly distinguished between autistic children and non-autistic children in every area of autism symptoms. Optimal cutoffs were derived using receiver operating characteristics curves. Using clinical diagnosis as criterion, overall sensitivity was 98 % and specificity was 90 %. The study determined that the Chinese version of 3Di-sv can well distinguish autistic children from typically developing children. •The Chinese version of 3Di-sv demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach alpha=0.94) and good test–retest reliability (ICC=0.89).•The 3Di-sv significantly distinguished between autistic children and non-autistic children in every area of autism symptoms.•Criterion validity was established by correlation of 3Di-sv with ABC, CARS and clinical diagnosis, with correlation coefficient of 0.72, 0.82 and 0.90, respectively.•The 3Di-sv cut-off scores of 10.35, 8.10, 4.60, 2.50 for subscale showed a sensitivity of 0.98 and specificity of 0.90, against clinical diagnosis in differencing ASD from non-ASD.