Factor Structure of ASD Symptoms in Russian 3-4-Year-Olds

Abstract

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.