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Brief Report: Cross-Cultural Evidence for the Heterogeneity of the Restricted, Repetitive Behaviours and Interests Domain of Autism: A Greek Study

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Abstract

Recent studies provide evidence that the Restricted, Repetitive Behaviours, and Interests (RRBI) domain of autism is heterogeneous, consisting of at least two factors: Insistence on Sameness (IS) and Repetitive Sensory and Motor Behaviours and Interests (RSMB) [Cuccaro et al. (Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 34, 3–7, 2003; Szatmari et al. (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 582–590, 2006)]. The main objective of this study was to replicate this two-factor structure in an independent sample of 153 Greek individuals with a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). Principal Component Analysis was used to analyze the data. Our findings confirmed the two-factor structure (accounting for 52% of the variance), providing evidence for the cross-cultural heterogeneity of the RRBI domain of autism and the clear distinction between IS and RSMB symptoms in individuals with PDD.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Peter Szatmari and Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum for their feedback and useful comments during the preparation of this report. We would also like to thank the children and the families who participated in data collection

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Dourouti, Ioannina, 45 100, Greece

    Vaya Papageorgiou & Venos Mavreas

  2. Offord Centre for Child Studies & Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Stelios Georgiades

Authors
  1. Vaya Papageorgiou
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  2. Stelios Georgiades
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  3. Venos Mavreas
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Correspondence to Vaya Papageorgiou.

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Papageorgiou, V., Georgiades, S. & Mavreas, V. Brief Report: Cross-Cultural Evidence for the Heterogeneity of the Restricted, Repetitive Behaviours and Interests Domain of Autism: A Greek Study. J Autism Dev Disord 38, 558–561 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0409-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0409-x

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