Psychometric properties of the STAT for early autism screening.
The STAT reliably flags autism in 2-year-olds, and newer studies now extend its use down to 18 months.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Matson et al. (2004) tested the STAT, a 12-minute play-based screening tool for autism. They gave it to 2-year-olds who were already flagged for concerns.
The team checked if STAT scores matched later autism diagnoses. They wanted to know if the tool catches most true cases and avoids false alarms.
What they found
The STAT showed high sensitivity and specificity. In plain words, it caught most kids who really had autism and rarely flagged typical kids.
Reliability was also strong. Different testers got the same scores, so the tool is stable.
How this fits with other research
Chiang et al. (2013) ran the same kind of study in Taiwan. Their T-STAT gave nearly identical results, showing the tool travels well across cultures.
Matson et al. (2008) pushed the STAT younger, down to 12-month-olds. Accuracy jumped once toddlers hit 14 months, so the 2004 data still anchor the sweet spot at 24 months.
Wu et al. (2021) now supersede the 2004 paper. They kept the STAT format but proved it works from 18-24 months under newer DSM-5 rules, widening the age window.
Grigore et al. (2024) sound a caution note. Their 2024 review says evidence for toddler screening is still mixed. The STAT looks good, yet they want more long-term outcome data before calling it best practice.
Why it matters
You can trust the STAT as a quick, play-based Level-2 screener for 2-year-olds. If you need to go younger, use the 18-24-month cutoff shown in Wu et al. (2021). Keep watching for new guidance, but for now the STAT remains one of the strongest tools in your autism-screening toolkit.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The STAT is an interactive screening measure for autism that assesses behaviors in the areas of play, communication, and imitation skills. In Study 1, signal detection procedures were employed to identify a cutoff score for the STAT using developmentally matched groups of 2-year-old children with autism and with nonspectrum disorders. The resulting cutoff yielded high sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for the development sample as well as for an independent validation sample. Study 2 examined psychometric properties of the STAT and revealed acceptable levels of interrater agreement, test-retest reliability, and agreement between STAT risk category and ADOS-G classification. The STAT demonstrates strong psychometric properties and shows promising utility as a Level 2 screening measure for autism.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2004 · doi:10.1007/s10803-004-5289-8