Validation of the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory (BAMBI) Questionnaire.
Brazilian Portuguese families now have a quick, 18-question form to screen feeding issues in kids with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Castro et al. (2019) translated the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory into Brazilian Portuguese.
They checked that the 18 questions still made sense for local families of children with autism.
The team followed standard steps to show the new BAMBI-BR form is ready for clinic use.
What they found
Parents and clinicians agreed the wording felt natural and clear.
The study found positive results, so the tool is now validated for Portuguese-speaking clients.
How this fits with other research
Howard et al. (2023) did the same kind of work for sensory behaviors. They built the 37-item SOAR scale and showed it is reliable during free play.
Jones et al. (2010) also validated a caregiver form, the BASC-2 PRS, to flag high-functioning autism. All three papers give you short checklists that save time.
Kara et al. (2014) adapted the M-CHAT in Turkey by having nurses read the questions aloud. Like BAMBI-BR, they proved a simple language tweak keeps the screener useful.
Why it matters
If you serve Portuguese-speaking families, hand them the BAMBI-BR while they wait. You will spot feeding problems in minutes and can move straight to treatment planning.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study aims to translate the Brief Autism Mealtime Behaviour Inventory (BAMBI) questionnaire to Brazilian Portuguese, in order to provide a tool to be used in clinic routine that encourages the evaluation of the feeding behaviour of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The final sample contained 410 participants, the mean age was 9.58 ± 1.2 and the majority of participants were male (95%). Validation of this questionnaire allows a structured evaluation for this population to be integrated not only into the clinical routine but also to help parent's interventions about the eating problems and possible consequences. This is of utmost importance, since parents are reporting the nutritional aspects more often, and studies indicate that up to 80% of ASD patients may present feeding behavior problems.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04006-z