Examining the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Social Aptitudes Scale in two clinical samples

BMC Psychol. 2023 Aug 3;11(1):221. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01258-4.

Abstract

Background: Few studies have examined the psychometric properties of the Social Aptitudes Scale (SAS). The study aims of the current paper were to examine the internal consistency and the validity of the Norwegian SAS.

Methods: Parents of children from a clinical neuropediatric sample (N = 257) and from a clinical sample from child and adolescent's mental health services (N = 804) filled in the SAS.

Results: Internal consistency for the SAS were good in both samples and correlations between the SAS and different scales were in the expected directions. The results from the Confirmatory Factor Analyses indicated poor model fit.

Conclusions: Future validity studies should investigate whether SAS is suitable as a screening instrument for detecting autism spectrum disorder.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Child and adolescent’s mental health services; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Psychometric properties; Social Aptitudes Scale.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Aptitude
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder* / diagnosis
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder* / psychology
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Mental Health Services*
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Surveys and Questionnaires