The New DSM-5 Impairment Criterion: A Challenge to Early Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis?

• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2512-8
• Publication Date: 2015-06-27T12:59:37Z
• Authors: Eric Zander; Sven Bölte
• Keywords: Male; Autism Spectrum Disorder; 05 social sciences; Age Factors; 610; Infant; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Early Diagnosis; Sex Factors; Child, Preschool; Humans; Female; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; Cognition Disorders

The possible effect of the DSM-5 impairment criterion on diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children was examined in 127 children aged 20-47 months with a DSM-IV-TR clinical consensus diagnosis of ASD. The composite score of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) served as a proxy for the DSM-5 impairment criterion. When applying a mild level of impairment (cutoff: 1 SD below the mean on the VABS), 88 % of the cases fulfilled the impairment criterion. Sixty-nine percent fulfilled the impairment criterion at a moderate level (1.5 SDs) and 33 % at a severe level (2 SDs). Findings indicate that a strict application of the new DSM-5 impairment criterion might compromise early diagnosis of ASD.