Autism Spectrum Rating Scales™ (ASRS®)





This technical report provides information about how the Autism Spectrum Rating ScalesTM (ASRS®) have been updated to align with the revised Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) criteria published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Overall, the impact of the new ASD criteria on the ASRS is minimal. The primary update involves the replacement of the DSM-IV-TR Scale with the new DSM-5 Scale (this scale now includes items related to hyperand hyporeactivity to sensory input, or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment).

The terminology used in the reports has also been updated to match the changes in the DSM-5; that is, all references to Autistic Disorder or Asperger’s Disorder have been removed, and the plural term “Autism Spectrum Disorders” has been replaced with the single diagnostic category “Autism Spectrum Disorder.” The final change includes the removal of the Delay of Communication items from the scoring algorithms. These DSM-5 updates are now available for both hand-scoring and computerized scoring options. Supporting psychometric information is provided in this report.

The Autism Spectrum Rating ScalesTM (ASRS®; Goldstein & Naglieri, 2013a) is a rating scale designed to measure behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders in children and youth aged 2 through 18 years. The ASRS





includes factor-derived scales labeled Social/Communica- tion and Unusual Behaviors (for ages 2 to 18 years), and Self-Regulation (for ages 6 to 18 years only). A DSM scale is also included that evaluates the symptom criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition–Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR; APA, 2000) for Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder–Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). The ASRS also includes Treatment Scales whose content cover clinically relevant symptoms that are included in the DSM, as well as associated features that are not covered in the DSM (i.e., Sensory Sensitivity and Attention/Self-Regulation).

The release of the updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; APA, 2013) introduced changes to the symptom criteria of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; refer to Table 1 for the full DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD), thus update to the ASRS was required. Because the content of the ASRS was comprehensive enough to include items related to the new symptom for ASD in the DSM-5 (i.e., hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input, or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment), a DSM-5 Scale could be constructed using existing items within the ASRS. This technical report describes the updates made to the ASRS to align it with the new DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. For comprehensive information about the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the ASRS, please refer to the ASRS Technical Manual and ASRS Technical Report #1 (Goldstein and Naglieri, 2013a, b).

Updates to the ASRS Corresponding to DSM Criteria Changes

Table 2 provides an overview of the changes to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, as well as how those changes have impacted the ASRS. As can be seen from this table, the impact on the ASRS is minimal given the existing alignment of the ASRS structure and content with the new DSM-5 criteria. Therefore, only minimal updates were required to align with the DSM-5 ASD criteria. The ASRS QuikScoreTM forms have been updated with the new DSM-5 Scale. These updates are also available as a new DSM-5 scoring option in the computerized software and online scoring programs.

Scoring and Reporting Adjustments

Hand Scoring

The full-length QuikScore Forms have been updated with the changes described in Table 2. The application of these changes to hand scoring is described below.