Psychometric properties and initial validity of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC), a measure of treatment-response for social-communication behaviors, are described. The BOSCC coding scheme is applied to 177 video observations of 56 young children with ASD and minimal language abilities. The BOSCC has high to excellent inter-rater and test-retest reliability and shows convergent validity with measures of language and communication skills. The BOSCC Core total demonstrates statistically significant amounts of change over time compared to a no change alternative while the ADOS CSS over the same period of time did not. This work is a first step in the development of a novel outcome measure for social-communication behaviors with applications to clinical trials and longitudinal studies.

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The role of price in prepurchase evaluations for variably priced services has not been widely examined. Increased consumer awareness of variable pricing practices, coupled with growing availability of user-generated content (UGC) at the point of purchase in the online environment, may be changing the way that consumers use price in purchase decisions. This article examines the relative roles of price and UGC, specifically consumer reviews and aggregate consumer ratings, on consumers’ prepurchase evaluations in the context of the purchase of hotel accommodation, a service to which variable pricing is typically applied. Results indicate that, in the presence of UGC, price does not have a significant impact on perceived quality. Price and UGC have significant effects on perceived value, although consumers rely more on reviews than ratings when evaluating price–benefit trade-offs. These results suggest that, rather than simply competing on price, managers must also understand consumers’ perceptions of their firm versus the competition.

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OBJECTIVE: Pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) caring for patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often encounter irritability (vocal or motoric outbursts expressive of anger, frustration, or distress) and problem behavior (directed acts of aggression toward other people, self, or property). The Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health and Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network charged a multidisciplinary workgroup with developing a practice pathway to assist PCPs in the evaluation and treatment of irritability and problem behavior (I/PB). METHODS:The workgroup reviewed the literature on the evaluation and treatment of contributory factors for I/PB in ASD. The workgroup then achieved consensus on the content and sequence of each step in the pathway. RESULTS:The practice pathway is designed to help the PCP generate individualized treatment plans based on contributing factors identified in each patient. These factors may include medical conditions, which the PCP is in a key position to address; functional communication challenges that can be addressed at school or at home; psychosocial stressors that may be ameliorated; inadvertent reinforcement of I/PB; and co-occurring psychiatric conditions that can be treated. The pathway provides guidance on psychotropic medication use, when indicated, within an individualized treatment plan. In addition to guidance on assessment, referral, and initial treatment, the pathway includes monitoring of treatment response and periodic reassessment. CONCLUSIONS:The pediatric PCP caring for the patient with ASD is in a unique position to help generate an individualized treatment plan that targets factors contributing to I/PB and to implement this plan in collaboration with parents, schools, and other providers. Dr McGuire contributed to the design of the practice pathway, played a leading role in drafting the initial manuscript, and revised the manuscript; Drs Fung, Hagopian, Vasa, Mahajan, Bernal, and Coury and Ms Silberman and Ms Wolfe contributed to the design of the practice pathway and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Drs Hardan and Veenstra-VanderWeele contributed to the conceptualization and design of the practice pathway and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Dr Whitaker played a leading role in conceptualizing and designing the practice pathway, drafted portions of the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; and all authors approved the fi nal manuscript as submitted.

A 22-item Likert-type rating scale for parents was developed for screening a broad range of specific sleep-related behaviors of elementary school children. The prevalence of these behaviors was reported by parents for boys (n = 459) and girls (n = 411) in three age groups, less than 8.5 yr., between 8.5 and 11.5 yr., and greater than 11.5 yr. For all age groups, the most prevalent behaviors were restlessness, waking up at night, pleasant dreams, getting up to go to the bathroom, talking while asleep, and complaints about not being able to sleep, while the least frequent were rhythmical movements and crying while asleep. The self-reports suggest that many of the behaviors are underestimated in the literature. Some sex and age differences were found, but the number of siblings, birth order, change in family structure, and educational status of father and mother were unrelated to the sleep variables. Test-retest reliabilities of self-reports by these parents to individual items were adequate.

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