Validity and reliability of the infant behavioral summarized evaluation (IBSE): a rating scale for the assessment of young children with autism and developmental disorders.
The 19-item IBSE gives BCBAs a quick, reliable way to spot early autism and developmental delays in children under four.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Koegel et al. (1992) built a short rating scale for babies and toddlers.
The IBSE has 19 items that capture early autism signs plus attention, perception, and self-help skills.
Clinicians can finish it after a brief observation of children aged 6 to 48 months.
What they found
The scale showed solid content validity and good reliability.
That means different raters agreed and the items truly reflect the behaviors they target.
How this fits with other research
Stevens et al. (2018) later trimmed screening even further. Their 5-item OERA kept sensitivity above 90 % for kids 3-10, showing ultra-brief tools can still work.
Villa et al. (2010) gave the PEP-R a psychometric boost for children up to 12 years. The IBSE fills the gap under age 4, so the two scales dovetail by age range.
Fahmie et al. (2013) pushed the age ceiling upward with a 20-item live scale for the broader autism phenotype. Together these papers trace a trend: shorter, younger, faster.
Why it matters
If you assess infants or toddlers, keep the IBSE in your pocket. It takes minutes, needs no toys, and flags red flags early. Pair it with a motor or language tool for a fuller picture, then move to the PEP-R once the child turns four.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The Infant Behavioral Summarized Evaluation (IBSE) is a rating scale adapted from the Behavioral Summarized Evaluation (BSE) and specifically related to the assessment of behaviors of young children having autistic disorders. Content validity and reliability studies described in the paper were made from behavior ratings of videotapes for 89 children aged from 6 to 48 months. Results show a significant group of 19 items including some characteristic early autistic behaviors (communicative and social abnormalities) and some that are less commonly described in the syndrome (attentional, perceptive, and adaptive disorders). The value of the use of this scale for clinicians and professionals involved in behavioral evaluations and treatment of young children with developmental disorders and the necessity for further psychometric investigations are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1992 · doi:10.1007/BF01048241