Abstract
A 20 item observational measure of social functioning, the Impression of Interviewee rating scale, is one of three measures devised to assess the broader autism phenotype. The sample studied included families containing at least two individuals with autism spectrum disorder; observations were undertaken by the researcher who interviewed the subject. An exploratory factor analysis suggested a single factor was most appropriate (Cronbach’s α of 0.78). There was a modest but significant retest correlation of 0.42. Correlations between live ratings and blind consensus ratings of vignettes were high (0.93). Correlations with the interview measures were moderate but statistically significant. In conclusion, the observational scale provides a promising start but further work is required before general use can be recommended.
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Acknowledgments
We are most grateful to all study participants and to the numerous researchers who contributed to the research. The IMGSAC are grateful for project grants from the following funders for this specific work: (1) The Medical Research Council; (2) The Wellcome Trust; and (3) The Nancy Lurie Marks (NLM) Family Foundation (grant GR071470MA). IMGSAC has also received grants from the following funders: (1) BIOMED 2 (CT-97-2759); (2) EC Fifth Framework (QLG2-CT-1999-0094); (3) Telethon—Italy (GGP030227); (4) Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Bologna; (5) The Janus Korczak Foundation; (6) Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; (7) Fondation France Telecom; (8) Conseil Regional Midi-Pyrenees; (9) Danish Medical Research Council; (10) Sofiefonden; (11) The Beatrice Surovell Haskells Fond for Child Mental Health Research of Copenhagen; (12) The Danish Natural Science Research Council (9802210); and (13) The US National Institute of Health.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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A. Pickles, J R Parr, and M L Rutter contributed equally to this work.
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Pickles, A., Parr, J.R., Rutter, M.L. et al. New Interview and Observation Measures of the Broader Autism Phenotype: Impressions of Interviewee Measure. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 2082–2089 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1810-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1810-2