Abstract
Purpose: Most assessment tools used to diagnose and characterize autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were developed for in-person administration. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in the need to adapt traditional assessment tools for online administration with only minimal evidence to support validity of such practices. Methods: The current exploratory study compared scores from online administration of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition (KBIT-2) during the pandemic to scores derived from follow-up testing using traditional in-person administration. Participants were 47 children and adolescents (M age = 9.48 years, SD = 4.06; 68.10% male) who participated in a telehealth diagnostic evaluation for ASD that included online administration of the KBIT-2. Participants were invited to complete the KBIT-2 a second time during an in-person study visit. Results: Pearson’s correlation coefficients suggested acceptable to good reliability between online and in-person administration. Although most participants’ online and in-person scores were within one standard deviation of each other, results suggested statistically significant differences between scores derived from the two modalities. Additionally, 19–26% of participants (depending on domain examined) had scores that differed by more than one standard deviation. Notably, all but one of these participants was under the age of 12 years. Conclusion: Findings suggest that online administration of the KBIT-2 is likely appropriate for older children and adolescents with ASD. However, additional research is needed to test online administration of intellectual assessments for children with ASD.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Deidentified data, materials, and analysis code for this study are available by emailing the corresponding author. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Nicole L. Matthews, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, 300 N 18th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85,006, United States. Email: nmatthews@autismcenter.org.
Notes
We use identity-first language to be consistent with the preference of many autistic individuals (e.g., Bury et al., 2023). However, we acknowledge that identity-first language is not a universal preference among the ASD community.
Statistics with outliers excluded: t(43) = -1.74, p = .27.
With outliers excluded, percentage of participants with difference scores greater than 15 were 18.6%, 23.3%, and 16.3% for Verbal, Nonverbal, and IQ Composite scores, respectively.
With outliers excluded, the association between age and absolute difference scores for the nonverbal domain was not statistically significant (rs = − 0.15, p = .34).
With outliers (n = 2) excluded, agreement was acceptable to good (Verbal: r = .84, p < .001; Nonverbal: r = .77, p < .001, Composite: r = .85, p < .001).
With outliers (n = 2) excluded, agreement was good (Verbal: r = .81, p < .001; Nonverbal: r = .80, p < .001; Composite: r = .84, p < .001).
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Autism Spectrum Disorder. In Diagnostic statistical manual of mental disorders (5th, Text Revision ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Bury, S. M., Jellett, R., Spoor, J. R., & Hedley, D. (2023). It defines who I am or it’s something I have: What language do [autistic] Australian adults [on the autism spectrum] prefer? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53(2), 677–687. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04425-3
CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline. (2023). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html#
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2022). How to Protect Yourself & Others. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
Dahiya, A. V., McDonnell, C., DeLucia, E., & Scarpa, A. (2020). A systematic review of remote telehealth assessments for early signs of autism spectrum disorder: Video and mobile applications. Practice Innovations, 5(2), 150–164. https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000121
Dahiya, A. V., DeLucia, E., McDonnell, C. G., & Scarpa, A. (2021). A systematic review of technological approaches for autism spectrum disorder assessment in children: Implications for the COVID-19 pandemic. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 109, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103852
Giavarina, D. (2015). Understanding bland Altman analysis. Biochemia Medica, 25(2), 141–151. https://doi.org/10.11613/BM.2015.015
Gibbs, V., Cai, R. Y., Aldridge, F., & Wong, M. (2021). Autism assessment via telehealth during the Covid 19 pandemic: Experiences and perspectives of autistic adults, parents/carers and clinicians. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101859
Hamner, T., Salorio, C. F., Kalb, L., & Jacobson, L. A. (2021). Equivalency of In-Person Versus Remote Assessment: WISC-V and KTEA-3 performance in clinically referred children and adolescents. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617721001053
Hodge, M. A., Sutherland, R., Jeng, K., Bale, G., Batta, P., Cambridge, A., Detheridge, J., Drevensek, S., Edwards, L., Everett, M., Ganesalingam, K., Geier, P., Kass, C., Mathieson, S., McCabe, M., Micallef, K., Molomby, K., Ong, N., Pfeiffer, S., & Silove, N. (2019). Agreement between telehealth and face-to-face assessment of intellectual ability in children with specific learning disorder. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 25(7), 431–437. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X18776095
Jang, J., White, S. P., Esler, A. N., Kim, S. H., Klaiman, C., Megerian, J. T., Morse, A., Nadler, C., & Kanne, S. M. (2022). Diagnostic evaluations of Autism Spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52(2), 962–973. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-04960-7
Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (2004). Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (2nd ed.). Pearson.
Lord, C., Rutter, M., DiLavore, P., Risi, S., Gotham, K., & Bishop, S. (2012). Autism diagnostic observation schedule (2nd ed.).). Western Psychological Services.
Lord, C., Charman, T., Havdahl, A., Carbone, P., Anagnostou, E., Boyd, B., Carr, T., de Vries, P. J., Dissanayake, C., Divan, G., Freitag, C. M., Gotelli, M. M., Kasari, C., Knapp, M., Mundy, P., Plank, A., Scahill, L., Servili, C., Shattuck, P., & McCauley, J. B. (2022). The Lancet Commission on the future of care and clinical research in autism. The Lancet, 399(10321), 271–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01541-5
Maenner, M. J., Warren, Z., Williams, A. R., Amoakohene, E., Bakian, A., Bilder, D. A., Durkin, M. S., Fitzgerald, R. T., Funier, S. M., Hughes, M. M., Ladd-Acosta, C. M., McArthur, D., Pas, E. T., Salinas, A., Vehorn, A., Williams, S., Esler, A., Gryzbowski, A., Hall-Lande, J., … Shaw, K. A. (2023). Morbidity and mortality weekly report prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years—Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/ss/pdfs/ss7202a1-H.pdf
Mahon, S., Webb, J., Snell, D., & Theadom, A. (2022). Feasibility of administering the WAIS-IV using a home-based telehealth videoconferencing model. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 36(3), 558–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2021.1985172
Matthews, N. L., Skepnek, E., Mammen, M. A., James, J. S., Malligo, A., Lyon, A., et al. (2021). Feasibility and acceptability of a telehealth model for autism diagnostic evaluations in children, adolescents, and adults. Autism Research, 14(12), 2564–2579.
Morrier, M. J., Schwartz, A. J., Rice, C. E., Platner, A., Ousley, O. Y., Kassem, S., Krishnan, A. V., Lord, C., Smith, C. J., & Oberleitner, R. (2023). Validation of an enhanced telehealth platform for toddlers at increased likelihood for a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06116-1
Prigge, M. B. D., Bigler, E. D., Lange, N., Morgan, J., Froehlich, A., Freeman, A., Kellett, K., Kane, K. L., King, C. K., Taylor, J., Dean, D. C., King, J. B., Anderson, J. S., Zielinski, B. A., Alexander, A. L., & Lainhart, J. E. (2022). Longitudinal Stability of Intellectual Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder: From age 3 through mid-adulthood. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52(10), 4490–4504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05227-x
Rutter, M., LeCouteur, A., & Lord, C. (2003). Autism Diagnostic interview-revised Manual. Western Psychological Services.
Schutte, J. L., McCue, M. P., Parmanto, B., McGonigle, J., Handen, B., Lewis, A., Pulantara, I. W., & Saptono, A. (2015). Usability and reliability of a remotely administered adult autism assessment, the autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS) module 4. Telemedicine and E-Health, 21(3), 176–184. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2014.0011
Smith, C. J., Rozga, A., Matthews, N., Oberleitner, R., Nazneen, N., & Abowd, G. (2017). Investigating the accuracy of a novel telehealth diagnostic approach for autism spectrum disorder. Psychological Assessment, 29(3), 245–252. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000317
Sparrow, S. S., Cicchetti, D. V., & Saulnier, C. A. (2016). Vineland adaptive behavior scales - Third Edition. Pearson.
Stavropoulos, K. K. M., Bolourian, Y., & Blacher, J. (2022). A scoping review of telehealth diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Plos One, 17(2 February). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263062
Telepractice (2021). and the KBIT-2. Pearson. https://www.pearsonassessments.com/content/dam/school/global/clinical/us/assets/telepractice/guidance-documents/telepractice-and-the-kbit-2.pdf
Wechsler, D. (2014). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (5th ed.). Pearson.
Wright, A. J. (2020). Equivalence of Remote, Digital Administration and Traditional, In-Person Administration of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V). Psychological Assessment, 32(9), 809–817. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000939.supp
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the families who participated in this research as well as the diagnostic services and research staff at the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC). This work was supported by a grant from the Autism Science Foundation (Grant Number 21-001CR).
Funding
This work was supported by a grant from the Autism Science Foundation (Grant Number 21-001CR).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
All authors were employed by the autism center where the telehealth diagnostic model was deployed.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Anbar, J., Metoyer, M., Smith, C.J. et al. An Exploration of Online and In-Person Administration of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition (KBIT-2) in Children and Adolescents Being Evaluated for Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06323-4
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06323-4