Refinement of the Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ): an instrument that describes the diverse problems seen in milder forms of PDD.

The team trimmed the Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire from 96 items to 49. They kept only the questions that best capture mild PDD social quirks.

Parents of kids with and without autism filled out the short form. The researchers then checked if scores lined up with clinical diagnoses.

The 49-item CSBQ cleanly split the clinical and control groups. High scores matched autism diagnoses; low scores matched typical development.

Internal consistency was good and test-retest scores held steady. The brief version kept the power of the long one.

Matson et al. (2009) surveyed 48 child social-skill tools and warned many lack solid psychometric legs. The CSBQ is one of the few they would call trustworthy.

Ellingsen et al. (2014) built a 3-item screener for severe behavior in toddlers. CSBQ takes longer but gives richer detail for milder, social-only concerns.

Jia et al. (2019) shortened adult autism self-report scales. CSBQ does the same job for parents of kids, keeping questions clear and jargon-free.

You now have a 5-minute parent form that flags subtle social delays without overwhelming families. Use it during intake to decide if a full ADOS is needed or if social skills groups alone will do. The clean factors also help you write specific treatment targets like ‘social interest’ or ‘stereotyped behavior’ instead of vague ‘social problems.’