Validation of the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire, Mandarin Chinese Version (CH-ASSQ) in Beijing, China.
The Mandarin CH-ASSQ with a cut-off of 12 reliably flags ASD among Mandarin-speaking children in urban China.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Yan-Qing and colleagues translated the 27-item Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire into Mandarin. They then tested it on Beijing children to see if the scores could tell ASD from non-ASD kids.
Doctors, parents, and teachers filled out the form. A clinician who did not see the scores decided which children had ASD, ADHD, or neither.
What they found
A CH-ASSQ score of 12 or higher caught almost every child with ASD while keeping most non-ASD children out. The tool was very accurate, with an AUC of 0.957.
In plain words, the Mandarin form works just as well as the original Swedish one.
How this fits with other research
Posserud et al. (2009) had already shown the Swedish ASSQ works best when both parent and teacher use a cut-off of 17. Yan-Qing et al. dropped that cut-off to 12 for Beijing kids, showing cultural norms can shift the line.
Kopp et al. (2011) added girl-specific items like "avoids demands" to create the ASSQ-REV. The Beijing study kept the original 27 items, so the CH-ASSQ may miss some girls. Future Mandarin versions could borrow those extra items.
Sun et al. (2014) validated the Mandarin CAST and found it beat the older CABS screen. The CH-ASSQ now gives Beijing clinicians a second Mandarin option, letting them pick the tool that best fits the child in front of them.
Why it matters
If you screen Mandarin-speaking children, you now have a ready-to-use parent-or-teacher form. Hand out the CH-ASSQ, score it, and refer any child at or above 12 for full evaluation. No extra norms tables, no English required.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: This study screened children in Beijing, China, in order to establish the validity of a Mandarin Chinese translation of the ASSQ. METHODS: We recruited children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) (DSM-IV diagnoses made independently by two senior psychiatrists) and unaffected children attending a public school in Beijing. Their parents were asked to complete the CH-ASSQ. RESULTS: Data from the parents of 94 children with ASD (mean age: 81 ± 47 months), 45 with ADHD (106 ± 27 months), 26 with COS (166 ± 36 months), and 120 unaffected control (72 ± 16 months) were collected. The total scores of ASSQ in children with ASD, ADHD, COS, and unaffected controls were 25.3 ± 9.2, 10.4 ± 7.1, 12.2 ± 10.6, and 5.2 ± 6.6 respectively. Total ASSQ scores of children with ASD were significantly higher than in any other group (all p < .0001). ROC analysis of ASD versus unaffected control subjects showed the area under curve was 0.957, with a cutoff of 12 having the maximum sensitivity (0.957) and specificity (0.825). CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot data suggest that CH-ASSQ successfully differentiates clinically diagnosed ASD patients from unaffected controls, as well as from patients with ADHD and COS. The instrument might therefore be useful for screening for ASD in urban Mandarin Chinese-speaking populations.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2011 · doi:10.1177/1362361310396383