Abstract
Although it is still unclear what causes autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), over time researchers and clinicians have become more precise with detecting and diagnosing ASD. Many diagnoses, however, are based on the criteria established within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM); thus, any change in these diagnostic criteria can have a great effect upon children with ASD and their families. It is predicted that the prevalence of ASD diagnoses will dramatically decrease with the adoption of the proposed DSM-5 criteria in 2013. The aim of this current study was to inspect the changes in prevalence first using a diagnostic criteria set which was modified slightly from the DSM-5 criteria (Modified-1 criteria) and again using a set of criteria which was relaxed even a bit more (Modified-2 criteria). Modified-1 resulted in 33.77 % fewer toddlers being diagnosed with ASD compared to the DSM-IV, while Modified-2 resulted in only a 17.98 % decrease in ASD diagnoses. Children diagnosed with the DSM-5 criteria exhibited the greatest levels of autism symptomatology, but the Mod-1, Mod-2, and DSM-IV groups still demonstrated significant impairments. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alfonso, V. C., Rentz, E. A., & Chung, S. (2010). Review of the Battelle developmental inventory, second edition. Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology, 6, 21–40.
Athanasiou, M. (2007). Review of the Battelle developmental inventory, 2nd Edn, by J. Newborg. Mental Measurements Yearbook, 17.
Baton, L. R., & Spiker, D. (2007). Review of the Battelle developmental inventory, 2nd Edn, by J. Newborg. Mental Measurements Yearbook, 17.
Bliss, S. L. (2007) Test reviews: Newborg, J. (2005). Battelle developmental inventory second edition. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 25, 409–415.
Elbaum, B., Gattamorta, K. A., & Penfield, R. D. (2010). Evaluation of the Battelle developmental inventory, 2nd edition, screening test for use in states’ child outcomes measurement systems under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Journal of Early Intervention, 12, 255–273.
Fernell, E., Hedvall, A., Westerlund, J., Carlosson, L. H., Eriksson, M., Olsson, M. B., et al. (2011). Early intervention in 208 Swedish preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders: A prospective naturalistic study. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 2092–2101.
Frazier, T., Youngstrom, E., Speer, L., Embacher, R., Law, P., Constantino, J., et al. (2012). Validation of proposed DSM-5 criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51, 28–40.
Ghaziuddin, M. (2010). Should the DSM-5 drop Asperger syndrome? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40, 1146–1148.
Gould, J. (1982). Social communication and imagination in children with cognitive and language impairments. Ph.D. thesis, University of London.
Hertz-Picciotto, I. (2009). Commentary: Diagnostic change and the increased prevalence of autism. International Journal of Epidemiology, 38, 1239–1241.
King, M., & Bearman, P. (2009). Diagnostic change and the increased prevalence of autism. International Journal of Epidemiology, 38, 1224–1234.
Leech, N. L., Barrett, K. C., & Morgan, G. A. (2008). SPSS for intermediate statistics: Use and interpretation. New York: Psychology Press.
Matson, J. L., Belva, B. C., Horovitz, M., & Bamburg, J. (2012). Comparing symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in a developmentally disabled adult population using the current DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria and the proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilites. doi:10.1007/s10882-012-9278-0.
Matson, J. L., Boisjoli, J. A., Hess, J., & Wilkins, J. (2010). Factor structure and diagnostic fidelity of the baby and infant screen for children with aUtIsm traits—part 1 (BISCUIT part—1). Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 13, 72–79.
Matson, J. L., Boisjoli, J., & Wilkins, J. (2007). Baby and infant screen for children with aUtIsm traits (BISCUIT). Baton Rouge, LA: Disability Consultants, LLC.
Matson, J. L., & Kozlowski, A. M. (2011). The increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 418–425.
Matson, J. L., Kozlowski, A. M., Hattier, M. A., Horovitz, M., & Sipes, M. (2012). DSM-IV versus DSM-5 diagnostic critera for toddlers with autism. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 15(3), 185–190.
Matson, J. L., & LoVullo, S. V. (2009). Trends and topics in autism spectrum disorders research. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3, 252–257.
Matson, J. L., Wilkins, J., Sevin, J. A., Knight, C., Boisjoli, J. A., & Sharp, B. (2009a). Reliability and item content of the baby and infant screen for children with aUtIsm traits (BISCUIT): parts 1, 2, and 3. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3, 336–344.
Matson, J. L., Wilkins, J., Sharp, B., Knight, K., Sevin, J. A., & Boisjoli, J. A. (2009b). Sensitivity and specificity of the baby and infant screen for children with autism traits (BISCUIT): Validity and cut-off scores for autism and PDD-NOS in toddlers. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3, 924–930.
McPartland, J., Reichow, B., & Volkmar, F. (2012). Sensitivity and specificity of proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(4), 368–383.
Newborg, J. (2005). Battelle developmental inventory (2nd ed.). Itasca, IL: Riverside.
Robins, D. L., Fein, D., Barton, M. L., & Green, J. A. (2001). The modified checklist for Autism in Toddlers: An initial study investigating the early detection of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 131–144.
Wing, L. (1981). Language, social and cognitive impairments in autism and severe mental retardation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10, 31–44.
Wing, L., & Gould, J. (1979). Severe impairments of social interaction and associated abnormalities in children: Epidemiology and classification. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 9, 11–29.
Wing, L., Gould, J., & Gillberg, C. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders in the DSM-5: Better or worse than the DSM-IV? Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 768–773.
Worley, J. A., & Matson, J. L. (2012). Comparing symptoms of autism spectrum disorders using the current DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria and the proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6, 965–970.
Conflict of interests
The authors report no conflicts of interests. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matson, J.L., Hattier, M.A. & Williams, L.W. How Does Relaxing the Algorithm for Autism Affect DSM-V Prevalence Rates?. J Autism Dev Disord 42, 1549–1556 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1582-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1582-0