Brief Report: An Evaluation of the Social Communication Questionnaire as a Screening Tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young People Referred to Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services

The SCQ is a widely used screening measure for the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, its sensitivity and specificity when used with older children in the context of community Child & Adolescent Mental Health services is unclear. Seventy-seven (Mean age = 12.8 years) young people with suspected ASD were screened using parent- and teacher-reported SCQ’s before completing a comprehensive diagnostic assessment. Of the 77 young people included, 44 (57%) met criteria for an ASD diagnosis. Our results indicated that regardless of informant, SCQ scores did not significantly predict the outcome of the diagnostic assessment. Based on the published cut-off score for the SCQ, Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analyses revealed a lower than expected sensitivity and specificity. This suggests that the SCQ is not an effective screening tool when used in the context of community Child & Adolescent Mental Health services.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all clinical staff within the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS foundation trust, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service who took the time to record the data used in this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Clinical Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR47TJ, UK Matthew J. Hollocks & Peter Beazley
2. Child Development Centre, Hillingdon Hospital, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK Matthew J. Hollocks
3. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK Roland Casson, Clare White, Jess Dobson & Ayla Humphrey
4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Ayla Humphrey

1. Matthew J. Hollocks