The Feasibility and Validity of Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening Instrument: Behavior Development Screening for Toddlers (BeDevel)-A Pilot Study.
A short parent interview plus five-minute play session accurately flags autism in Korean toddlers.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a new toddler screener called BeDevel. It mixes a short parent chat with a five-minute play observation.
They tried it on Korean children under three and a half. Some had autism, some had other delays, and some were typical.
This was the first test, so the sample was small.
What they found
BeDevel caught most autism cases. It also kept false alarms low.
Numbers were strong enough to say the tool is ready for larger checks.
How this fits with other research
Bong et al. (2021) ran the same tool again with more kids. The results stayed high, so the pilot held up.
Nah et al. (2019) made a five-item screen that takes two minutes. It works, but BeDevel adds a play piece, giving richer data.
Tsai et al. (2019) and Srisinghasongkram et al. (2016) both used M-CHAT forms in East-Asia. They also found good numbers, yet those forms rely only on parent answers. BeDevel’s live play look may catch kids parents miss.
Why it matters
If you screen toddlers in Korean-speaking families, BeDevel is now an option you can trust. The parent talk plus play slice gives a quick but fuller picture than a form alone. Try it when families struggle with paper screens or when you want live social samples. Keep the M-CHAT in your pocket for English speakers, but add BeDevel for Korean kids or when you need both words and actions.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although early screening is critical for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in order to receive early intervention and improve function later in life, screening is often delayed. Limitations of existing screening instruments, and the need for a culturally appropriate early screening tool in Korean children, led us to develop Behavior Development Screening for Toddlers (BeDevel). The BeDevel assessment consists of two parts: BeDevel-Interview, a structured interview measure for parents/primary caregivers; and BeDevel-Play, a play-based semi-structured observational measure in children. To examine the feasibility and validity of BeDevel, 155 children (N = 75 ASD, N = 55 typical development, N = 25 developmentally delayed) aged 18-42 months (M = 31.54 months, SD = 7.60) were examined through parent-reported screening questionnaires, BeDevel, and standard diagnostic assessments. When BeDevel items were analyzed using Cohen's kappa statistics, most items in BeDevel-Interview and all items in BeDevel-Play were reasonably consistent with diagnoses. We identified primary items, which were significantly interacted with actual diagnosis in the chi-squared test (P < 0.05, range = 0.000-0.032). Using cutoff numbers of items determined using the receiver operating characteristics curve, BeDevel showed satisfactory levels of sensitivity (83.33%-100%), specificity (81.25%-100%), positive predictive values (80.65%-100%), and negative predictive values (83.87%-100%), as well as high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.866-959). The agreement between BeDevel and most other screening/diagnostic instruments was moderate (k = 0.419-1.000). These results suggest that BeDevel can be a useful instrument for early screening of ASD. Autism Res 2019, 12: 1112-1128. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Although early screening is critical for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in order to receive early intervention and improve function later in life, screening is often delayed. Limitations of existing screening instruments and the need for a culturally appropriate early screening tool in Korean children led us to develop Behavior Development Screening for Toddlers (BeDevel). The BeDevel assessment consists of two parts: BeDevel-Interview, a structured interview measure for parents/primary caregivers; and BeDevel-Play, a play-based, semi-structured observational measure in children. In order to test the feasibility and validity of BeDevel, we analyzed preliminary data of total 155 children aged 18-42 months, examined through parent-reported screening questionnaires, BeDevel, and standard diagnostic assessments. When individual items were analyzed, responses of all BeDevel-Interview items and of most BeDevel-Play items well matched actual diagnoses, and we identified primary items, which were particularly useful in differentiating between the ASD group and the non-ASD group. With the optimal screening criteria determined, the BeDevel was able to identify individuals with a diagnosis of ASD and those without it, all at satisfactory levels. Lastly, BeDevel items were closely related as a set, and the BeDevel screening results were reasonably consistent with the results of most other screening/diagnostic instruments. These results suggest that BeDevel can be a useful instrument for early screening of ASD.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2019 · doi:10.1002/aur.2117