Socioemotional and Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening for Toddlers in Early Intervention: Agreement Among Measures

Identification of problems with socioemotional functioning is an important task in early childhood, particularly for children in early intervention (EI). However, socioemotional concerns raised by families may be under-identified in practice. In accordance with Division for Early Childhood (DEC) recommended practices, Part C providers could benefit from additional guidance on socioemotional screening and assessment, including additional research on available tools. Therefore, we examined agreement among three commonly used measures of socioemotional functioning in an EI sample (N = 50). Overall, the measures did not have adequate agreement. We found substantial agreement between the Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE, first edition) and the Brief Infant Toddler Social-Emotional Assessment (BITSEA), moderate agreement between the ASQ:SE and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and fair agreement between the BITSEA and CBCL. We also examined their potential to screen for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by examining agreement with the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F). The BITSEA had substantial agreement with the M-CHAT-R/F, providing initial support for its use as an ASD screener. These findings are preliminary and further study in larger, more diverse samples would be beneficial. Evaluation of the sensitivity and specificity of these tools is also needed.