Preliminary Examination of the Autism Parent Screen for Infants (APSI) in a Community Sample

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Parent perception of their child’s behavior plays a vital role in detecting early emerging signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent research suggests that in a sample of high-risk infants (siblings of children diagnosed with ASD), the Autism Parent Screen for Infants (APSI) is able to differentiate children who will later go on to receive an autism diagnosis starting at 6 months of age (Sacrey et al., 2016). In comparison to brief clinical observation, parent-report on the APSI was also found to better differentiate between high-risk infants who will receive a diagnosis and those who will not (Sacrey et al., 2018). The utility of the APSI in prodromal ASD detection has been demonstrated in high-risk samples, but this measure has not yet been characterized in a community sample. The present study aims to evaluate the APSI as a screener for detecting emerging ASD traits in a community-derived sample of toddlers. Total score on the APSI was evaluated in relation to total score on the Video-Referenced Rating of Reciprocal Social Behavior (vrRSB), a parent-report measure that has been found to reliably quantify autistic traits in community samples (Marrus et al., 2015; 2018; 2020).

Parental ratings on the APSI and vrRSB were collected for 950 community-ascertained toddlers (461 female, 489 male) at a mean age of 21.2 months (range 17.1-26.7 months, SD=2.4 months) as part of a larger study. APSI total scores ranged from 0-30 (M=4.6, SD=3.6, see Figure 1), and vrRSB total scores ranged from 3-89 (M=19.8, SD=8.1, see Figure 2). There was no significant effect for sex on APSI total score (t(946)=0.15, p=0.88), with average scores for males (M=4.55) and females (M=4.58) being nearly equal. In contrast, sex was found to have a significant effect on vrRSB total score (t(944)=-2.59, p=0.01), with higher scores for males (M=20.54) compared to females (M=19.18). Age was not associated with APSI total score (r=-0.029, p=.38). A strong association was found between APSI total score and vrRSB total score above and beyond the influence of age and sex (r=0.65, p<.001). A criterion of 2.5 SD above the mean total score for APSI and vrRSB was used to identify toddlers with emerging ASD traits. Twenty-four children (2.53% of sample) were identified with high APSI scores (>13.6), and sixteen children (1.68% of sample) were identified with high vrRSB scores (>40.2). These percentages are analogous to local (2.27% in Minnesota) and national (1.85% in US) ASD prevalence rates (CDC, 2020). Of the 28 children identified with scores above 2.5 SD, 12 (42.86%) were identified by both measures, suggesting convergence between the APSI and vrRSB.

These preliminary findings suggest that parent-report on the APSI may serve as a useful screener to differentiate toddlers with emerging ASD traits in a community sample, but more work is needed to verify its clinical utility.

Authors

• Tessa Djiko, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Jason J Wolff, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Suma Jacob, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jed T. Elison, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author