Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Social Communication Disorder Screener.

The team built a short parent form called the SCDS. It has 14 items that map onto Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder.

Parents of kids aged 5 to 18 filled it out. The researchers ran an exploratory factor analysis to see how the items clump together.

Three clear factors popped out. The items hung together and the internal consistency looked good.

In plain words, the screener hangs together like a sturdy three-legged stool.

Cameron et al. (1996) did the same math trick on the DBC and also found six tidy factors for kids with ID. Both studies show parent checklists can give clean sub-scales when you run factor analysis.

Wagner et al. (2011) and Schulz et al. (2011) used confirmatory factor analysis on the M-ABC-2 and likewise landed on three factors. The difference: they tested a motor scale with CFA, while M et al. used EFA on a social-communication scale.

Sasson et al. (2022) worked with adults, yet their German ADC also yielded three factors through EFA. The pattern repeats across ages and cultures, giving you confidence that three-factor solutions are not a fluke.

You now have a 14-item parent screener that is quick, free, and psychometrically sound. Use it during intake to flag kids who might need a deeper SPCD look. If the three factors show up in your data set too, you can trust the scores and save hours of broader testing.