Teachers' use of classroom social behaviors observation scale (CSBOS) to identify children at risk for mild ASD and sub-clinical social deficits

Abstract

The present study aims at pushing the identification process earlier to preschool age for children on the mild end of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by validating teachers’ use of the 13-item Classroom Social Behaviors Observation Scale (CSBOS) (Au, Cheung, Tse, & Au, In Prep) that focuses on children’s peer interaction in class. Seven teachers and 149 children in an international kindergarten in Hong Kong participated in the study. The “At-risk” group for mild cases of ASD was identified by using one standard deviations below the mean as the cutoff for CSBOS scores independently given by research assistants and teachers; the control group was formed by random selection from the non-“At-risk” group. Based on the teachers’ input, the CSBOS was revised to clarify its wording and make it more user-friendly (CSBOS-R). These children were also rated by their class teachers again – this time using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and CSBOS-R (the revised CSBOS; based on overall impression). . They were assessed individually by a clinical psychologist using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, and observed by a research assistant in the classroom with the revised CSBOS-R and time-sampling methodology. Result showed that teacher’s CSBOS-R impression rating was highly correlated with children’s calibrated ADOS severity score (r(37)= -.62), and total SRS-2 score (r(40)= -.86). Teacher’s CSBOS-R impression rating correlated well with CSBOS-R rated by the clinical psychologist (r(18)= .82) and the research assistant (r(35)= .74). The result, therefore, validated teacher’s use of CSBOS-R in identifying preschool children at risk for mild ASD.